Surrogates (2009) Movie Review

Bruce Willis’ “Surrogates” may have had a good idea going in, but the result is … middling. To be sure, as with any big-budget sci-fi film, it’s enjoyable enough on a base level, but this isn’t a movie that people will be using to salute Bruce Willis when the “Die Hard” star signs off to visit that Big Hollywood Sky. It’s a vanilla effort, disappointingly so given all the talent (not to mention money) involved. Jonathan Mostow is a good director with a knack for action, but his work here feels restrained and muted. I’m not sure how much of the idea survived from the script by Michael Ferris and John D. Bracato, or from the original source material, a comic book by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, but what’s left is average at best, not-even-trying at worst.

It is the future, and lifelike robotic surrogates have become commonplace. In fact, they’re so commonplace that only a small portion of the population don’t use them, and these “dregs” of society have cut themselves off from the rest of the world to live in inner city reservations. They are led by The Prophet (Ving Rhames), a mysterious, homeless-looking fella who preaches revolution against the machines. The story proper begins when two surrogates are destroyed, resulting in the death of their human hosts – impossibility, we’re told by the creators of the machines.

This is, in fact, the first-ever recorded murder of a human while “jacked in”. In a world where crime is no longer a viable human endeavor, and murder is practically non-existent thanks to the presence of surrogates, the FBI, led by Greer (Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) are understandably shocked. But as Greer and Peters chases the killer, they begin to realize that a larger conspiracy is at work.

“Surrogates” runs a scant 80 minutes, which is not nearly enough time to fully explore the film’s overarching conspiracy and its many participants. As a result, the film feels rushed, as if the filmmakers realized they had a stinker on their hands, and save for a couple of character moments in service of pathos, the film races through its plotlines at dizzying speeds. Major revelations are revealed, but we never get the chance to actually see the consequences, because the film is already moving on. By the time the action-packed Act Three rolls around, character motivations have become so muddled that they feel tacked on or pulled out of asses. To be honest, the film is such that I really didn’t bother to try to understand it all. Not because it was all too smart (which it isn’t), but because, well, like the emotionless, consequence-free machines that the characters ride around in, I just don’t care enough to make the effort.

To its credit, “Surrogates” is never boring, though it never really offers up anything too impressive in terms of action. The film’s highlight comes early, when Greer is chasing a suspect by helicopter. They end up crashing into one of the surrogate-free reservations, where Greer’s surrogate is put to the test as it gets mangled, shot, and eventually strung up like a Christmas decoration. Mostow and company does do something very interesting , that if it was on purpose, means the film has more subtle levels than I may be giving it credit for. And it’s this: everything about the film just looks fake, from the too-pretty/wax-like robotic surrogates to the film’s sets, which never once looks as if the filmmakers strayed beyond the faux city blocks of a Hollywood backlot. Every scene in the movie screams “Hollywood manufactured”, and truthfully, that may have been the point.

As big-budget sci-fi movies go, “Surrogates” is a decent, though by no means great entry into the genre. It never feels like the movie is trying to be great, either, which is a shame given the money and cast they had to work with. Instead, we have a decent time waster that no one will remember in a year from now. Oh, who am I kidding. I barely remember the movie now.

Jonathan Mostow (director) / Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato (screenplay), Robert Venditti, Brett Weldele (graphic novel)
CAST: Bruce Willis … Tom Greer
Radha Mitchell … Peters
Rosamund Pike … Maggie
Boris Kodjoe … Stone
James Cromwell … Canter
Ving Rhames … The Prophet
Jack Noseworthy … Strickland