Surrogates (2009)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Sadly Over-hyped

best movie i've ever seen.

As Good As It Gets

I rated this film a little better than it's current IMDb rating (6.3). The premise of a futuristic world where people now live their lives in an almost wholly virtual manner is positively Cartesian and for this alone it deserves some credit in my opinion. The film tries to flesh out (pun intended), through Bruce Willis's character, some sort of lesson with regards to what it means to be real, to be human and to truly live and feel. In a strange new world where almost everyone is now living their actual lives in a reclusive state, hidden in their own homes but continuing to venture out into the real world in virtual form through the use of a robot or Surrogate, one cop(Bruce Willis) is forced to go rouge/off grid in order to track down a murder who has somehow gotten hold of a device that can destroy/kill both robots and the person controlling them at the time. The case leads him to come into contact both directly and indirectly through various surrogate forms with the father of one of the victims, who as it tuns out is a reclusive billionaire and the father/inventor of Surrogate technology. As the story unfolds, we learn that the cop has also lost a son in the past and that this is one possible reason he and his wife choose to live their lives in robot form. We see too that once he goes off- line there is a personal desire on his part to reconnect with his estranged wife (who happens to live/ exist in the very same apartment as him) in her human form rather than her robot form but she like most people is resistant to the idea and fearful of how real her feelings of loss and fear will become if she unplugs. Through a couple of expected twists the film ends with a him saving the day but then being given a choice between making the world/ peoples experiences of it 'real' again (despite the pain, suffering and inconvenience it may cause some people) and allowing it to continue in the vain, superficial /artificial and emotionally and physically removed form it has taken. The lesson I think it that it is this pain as well as the joy we experience that makes life unique, life was never meant to be this easy. Ultimately it is only in the doing, the being and the experiencing of all of it ,both good and bad, that life becomes 'real' and so worth living.

In this world of the future, technology now allows people to experience life vicariously through the activities of their "surrogates", which are ultra sophisticated robotic creations. Trouble brews when the son of the programs' creator is killed. Bruce Willis plays Greer, an FBI agent forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to solve the conspiracy.An adaptation of the graphic novel by Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele, "Surrogates" is slick genre entertainment, a cut above many films of this type due to some genuinely provocative content. It certainly may make each viewer ponder the idea of having what is essentially a robot live their life for them. A parallel between the obsessions of this films' characters and real life addictions to technology can certainly be seen. In the end, the need to stress, and reclaim, our humanity is made clear. The action scenes are capably handled, but there are not that many of them. This is one of those instances where the action is serving the story and not vice versa. The visual and makeup effects are generally well done.Credit is due to these filmmakers - led by director Jonathan Mostow - for hitting the ground running and keeping their pace rather lively. Refreshingly, "Surrogates" runs a trim hour and a half, so there's no uninteresting filler to have to sit through. There is some poignancy to the material, as Greer desperately tries to reconnect with his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike), who fixates on her surrogate, partly as a way of dealing with grief.Willis gives a sensitive, appealing performance in the lead, although it may be distracting seeing that wig on the head of his surrogate. Lovely ladies Radha Mitchell and Pike are fine, as is Boris Kodjoe as the FBI supervisor. James Cromwell and Ving Rhames are kind of wasted in their respective supporting roles, but it's fun to see Jack Noseworthy (a semi regular in Mostows' filmography), Devin Ratray (Buzz from "Home Alone"), and Michael Cudlitz (Abraham on 'The Walking Dead') turn up.Reasonably stimulating and diverting for 89 robust minutes.Seven out of 10.

In the near future, people use robotic surrogates in place of their everyday life. It started 14 years previously with the work of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell). Now there is a resistance to their use led by The Prophet (Ving Rhames). Crime has been all but eliminated when the world is full of surrogates. Then people actually gets killed when their surrogates get blasted by a new weapon. FBI agents Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) investigate. He's married to Maggie (Rosamund Pike). He wants to take a vacation out in the real world as themselves but she rather use the surrogates since the lost of their son. One of the victims is the son of Canter who had been forced out of his company VSI 7 years ago and is now a recluse. They uncover a vast conspiracy.The movie creates a fascinating world. It's filled with intriguing ideas. I like where this movie is coming from. I do wonder if the movie is better with society stratified between the poor who live in their real bodies and the rich in their surrogates. Instead it's made out to be a choice depending on your viewpoint. The bigger issue is the robotic acting because ... they're robots. There is something disconnected about the unblinking robots. It does allow for some great action but it mostly leaves me cold. As for the ending, I expect something much more action oriented.

Surrogates is a Sci-Fi film that although never really lives up to the epic scale we see so often in this genre, still produces some good action scenes and an amazing production design to look at. It has a cast led by an action film legend and he produces bringing the right balance of fights and chases to really make the short film exciting. Some say it is poor but I disagree, I felt it has enough to be considered alright and thought it was also just about OK, and here below is why.The story is pretty cool but to be fair it is wasted, too short of a film and too much going on mean you never quite get to delve into the story and learn about new things. I liked the ending which is interesting and although it does start very slowly and the pace really needs to be kicked up a notch, the middle into the end produces what the movie goers want to see. I also liked the way in which everything works in the world, it is really quite neat and although may seem it has been done before when you see it, it turns out interesting.Bruce Willis is well, a weird looking when he wants to be,He has a strange looking surrogate and the make-up used on him is disturbingly strange to look at best. I wasn't to keen on pretty much anyone else in the cast, it is pretty poorly acted and only Willis can do anything to bring in a saving grace. I would have liked to see the film bring in more support for Willis as at times he can seem to be on his own doing things and a decent sidekick would have made it more exciting.Jonathan Mostow doesn't direct this too well in all fairness, it isn't it's weakest point but the way in which everything goes a long is just a frightfully horrible pace. I personally felt the acting was the biggest let down for this film but the writing is also poor, you won't think much about it whilst watching it but the words chosen are nothing different that your average screenplay. The effects, well the effects are also fairly poor but I will say the actual surrogates look great although basically the sets and make-up for this are the top of quality.The main criticism of course the acting as previously said, just isn't strong enough for such a hard film to well, act in. The poor effects are to be fair hard to do anyway, a bigger budget perhaps would have done the trick but they don't annoy you as a viewer. The 89 minute running time can be a problem at times too, with too little a time to really understand the characters and a rushed ending too.If you like Sci-Fi/Action type films then go see it, you should enjoy all that goes on and only the most hardened haters of Sci-Fi would really dislike this. For Bruce Willis fans your probably used to over the top action and this has it quite a bit although sometimes seems mindless. It's actually a good old mystery if you really look into it and any fan of working out that mystery should enjoy this, even if you don't particularly like these type of movies.Overall it is Just About a Pleasing film, contains no material to push up it's score but I don't think the everyone that watches it should hate it. Don't look into the behind the scenes stuff like writing and directing and the film is hugely enjoyable. Another thing not to look a lot into is also the acting which is not the worst ever but when the film starts you want them to leave the movie quick.