Surrogates presents a world where humans are no longer humans, not in the sense that they go outside to carry out the daily tasks necessary to their lives. It presents a world where humans live through surrogate versions of themselves, who look similar but are considered "better" in every way (attractiveness, durability etc), all the while the real versions are locked away in their homes, lying on what looks like a tech version of a dentist's chair, using their minds to control their "other selves."
So it's maybe a bit ironic, then, that the feeling of artificiality that the film's world presents mimics the feeling we get as a viewer. There's no real sense of danger or feeling towards anything or anyone - the technology is alien to us so it doesn't allow us to truly feel for what's going on.
That may have been different had the themes and ideas at the centre of Surrogates been put across with more resonance. The film is a kind of mash-up of I, Robot, Eagle Eye, and James Cameron's upcoming Avatar (so far as the idea of living through another body goes). It presents the obvious (often too obvious) themes of the meaning of life, what it means to be human, how technology in this day and age is overrunning our life and maybe, just maybe, the extreme places that technology could take us in the future.
They're all valid points, but they're not very well handled at all, and it ends up feeling rather trite, as well as wholly redundant. It's a shame, too, as there are some genuinely effective moments to be found here. The special effects are impressive, in moments such as when someone is removing the face of a surrogate to improve the features, or when Bruce Willis's surrogate is running and jumping around the place with no right arm.
But even the special effects come sadly attached to something else detrimental to the film — the action sequences. There's nothing particularly bad about them, but disappointingly nothing very good about them either. They're the same chase, fight, and shoot-out action sequences we've seen in a million and one other previous sci-fi/action films. Much like the ones in director Jonathan Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the action scenes should keep you entertained if all you're looking for is fast cars, bullet spraying, and nothing else. But anyone looking for a bit more in their action will be left with their appetite unsatisfied.
Article comments
1 - alethea
Interesting take on this movie. I saw it completely differently. To begin with, one of the reasons for 'Surrogates' is that they AREN'T just more beautiful. They can be anyone: a man is a woman; a white person is black; a small person can be tall and so on. The fact that this detail is glossed over renders the review less than credible. I'm a fairly tough critic and I get the feeling the reviewer either didn't see the film or wasn't interested enough to pay attention.
2 - JoeF
This movie does what science fiction is supposed to do, but seldom does anymore, it makes a comment about today's society by taking current trends and carrying them to a profound technological conclusion.
I would have liked to explore this world more and not keep slamming into some convoluted scheme that defeats its own purpose. I had fun watching it, but I actually thought the movie was smarter than its plot.