Day 025 || Surrogates

Surrogates, 2009
Dir. Jonathan Mostow

"Honey, I don't know what you are. I mean, for all I know, you could be some big fat dude sittin' in his stem chair with his dick hanging out."

The conceit of man versus machine has been a philosophical point of interest for quite some time, and it's been documented and explored several times in film history. From the early days of film, seen in Metropolis, to the recent decade where it's become a huge point of interest (The Matrix trilogy, to the recent, and incredibly profitable and popular Avatar). The idea is something very simple, yet infinitely intriguing and being mostly philosophical in nature, it provides several great "what if" ideas.

Sadly, Surrogates doesn't seem to really want to explore many of them. It poses some really interesting questions and thoughts in it's mere 89 minute running time, but they're never fleshed out or given proper discourse. What could have been a sleek and new approach to the philosophical nature of machines has instead been trimmed down to an efficient action flick, that doesn't suck, but doesn't offer much of anything else.

Whereas some critics and fans were disappointed by how the Matrix sequels turned out, you have to give them credit for handling the series with thought, love, and sophistication. Sure, they might have gotten a little too lost in the philosophy aspect, but give me that over a mindless action/suspense film, any day.

Bruce Willis is pretty much your typical Bruce Willis here. He's definitely not bringing his best, and what we get is a somewhat lifeless performance ironically, considering the subject matter. The rest of the actors and actresses do a decent job, at the best, but most seem to be sleepwalking through their parts. Even Ving Rhames, who is usually charismatic and lights up the screen sizzles in Surrogates.

And I'm blaming that solely on the script. I'm not sure if Surrogates is based on an established property, such as a comic or something, but the world seems ripe for ideas, but the script lazily ignores many of them and favors the set pieces involving humans leaping from car to car, and a one arm Bruce Willis surviving yet another aircraft crash. Not to mention there are several plot holes and inconsistencies in the story. And it's all wasted since there is a wonderful production backing the film. It looks and is shot very cleanly and wonderfully. It's almost like a lighter and more modern version of Blade Runner with the color palettes used.

But if you're looking for an average action flick, you won't be disappointed. Well, I take that back. You might still be disappointed, but this isn't the worst film you could pick up. On the other hand there are much, much better films to watch, several even on the subject at hand. I don't recommend Surrogates, but I also wouldn't stop someone from renting it. I didn't care for it, but for those turned off by the introspective and thought-provoking Matrix sequels, this might be more up their alley.

2 out of 5