Surrogates

Surrogates is to some extent a B- movie with a grade-A budget. It is based on an interesting idea that aptly allegorizes the artificiality of contemporary peroxide-and-shopping culture. However, it needed a more ambitious screenwriter who would write something more than an action-packed forgettable flick made marketable thanks to Bruce Willis. In the film, we find motifs familiar from Children of Men (“dreadlocked guys” on the margins of society) and the attractive high-tech visuals of I, Robot, and it wants to be deadly serious like Spielberg’s Minority Report. However, unlike those movies, Surrogates does not dare to take a single step in its own direction and prefers to work with proven twists, tries to look clever by being unnecessarily contrived and at least in one (the final) scene, it is even ridiculous due to the futility of its screenplay. The character of the dreadlocked “Prophet”, played by Ving Rhames, is not well executed; Willis himself is alright as the only link between the viewer and the real world of living people, but unfortunately without any cool lines or humor, which could have provided some needed comic relief. (15/09/2009)

Definitely above average. Neither Bruce Willis nor Jonathan Mostow disappointed and they made a quality summer spectacle, but it didn't hit the movie theaters until the autumn. Oh well. The film went by pleasantly fast, 90 minutes felt like nothing, it hardly lost momentum and everything in it was clear and nice to look at. I have no reservations about the action scenes and effects, or the actors and actresses. Don't expect philosophy, don't expect "another Matrix or I, Robot", expect fun with a bit of thought put into it. (16/10/2009)

It would probably have been better if they hadn’t given away almost the whole movie in the first clip, but in any case I reasonably enjoyed myself. Some of it is seriously gourmet style (yep, the chase with the one-armed Bruce), but most of it was more like marzipan on an over-sweet cake. The story is clearly not fully thought through, even though I’m ready to believe that as a comic book it was at least 50% better. Also, I didn’t much like Mostow’s plastic vision. Did they all really have to look THAT artificial? (12/12/2009)

A proper fiasco. Bruce Willis is clearly bored and wasting his time on unsuccessful and rip-off sci-fi flicks. Jonathan Mostow completely failed, Rosamund Pike’s breasts are three sizes larger than her standard, which sticks out like a sore thumb on Surrogates, and overall, this colourful and non-contact fairy tale is just golden tinsel that hardly earned its keep. I recommend avoiding it completely. (24/02/2010)

Bruce gave himself a nice old bit of action, but so why not, it didn't look awkward at all... only the hairpiece in the robo-creature was really funny... :-D I think it's a shame that the movie got such a low rating, I don't think it deserves it, but I get it. It's such a tired, long-winded, bland and flavorless film, even though it's only 88 minutes long. Which is a pity. For such a rip-off... ;-)) [SPOILER] And once again, everyone survived, and once again, Bruce was so awesome, brilliant and moral; coincidentally, the idea of wiping out 98% of the human population isn't so bad... X-D (24/10/2009)