Surrogates: Movie Review

 
Hello all,

Another movie review coming at ya! This time it's the Bruce Willis Sci-Fi film Surrogates.

I have to say that my interest was piqued about this movie when I first saw the trailer a couple of years ago. However, I never got to see it in theaters at the time. Now that I think about it I don't watch that many movies in theaters, and I just catch them after they come out on Blu-ray or DVD. It wasn't until about a  month ago that I saw the trailer advertised on TV that I went out and bought it.

So, the premise is humanity has become completely dependent on the use of artificial robots/cyborgs to function or interact with society. In other words, when you get ready to go to work, you plug yourself into your robot/cyborg, known as a Surrogate, and go about your daily outdoor activities. Sound familiar? It should because it is the exact same plug-in/jack-in function used in The Matrix. Only, instead of plugging into a computer, you plug-in to your artificial clone. It's really a very intriguing idea. The movie explains that this new technology and mode of human interactive function has revolutionized humanity to the point that such things as crime are non-existent.

Of course, like any revolution or new concept, there are going to be opponents. These are known as Dreads, normal people/humans that refuse to allow technology/robots to replace man kind. I may be making this sound too much like the premise for Terminator, but its not this extreme. It has this feel much like Stephen King's The Stand where you have the two factions or social groups. In Surrogates, you have the society that accepts the robots as a means of social image, and the other society hates the robots for the same reason.

The story takes shape when a murder is committed with a device that not only destroys the surrogate but also its human operator. Bruce Willis plays FBI agent Tom Greer, and with Radha Mitchell (Agent Peters) the two investigate the crime which has roots reaching all the way into the surrogate manufacturing company VSI. I don't remember what the full name was, or if it was even mentioned, ha! Surrogates is a very decent detective story but at its core are the major themes that the concept of artificial dependence implies.

For example, all the surrogates are young while their human counterparts are older or aging. The reason I say this is because part of the story focuses on Bruce Willis' character's relationship with his wife Maggie played by Rosamund Pike. From very earlier on, we are shown a disconnect between the couple, especially after Tom is forced to pursue the investigation with out a surrogate. He realizes that his wife may have grown so dependent on the use of the artificial persona/image that she's lost sense of reality.

Another interesting point shown in the movie is that it is a comment on some of society's idea or need to display or appear young or perfect. As a matter of fact, the modern surrogate society is visually represented as a stylish, and artificial rendition of what a perfect society would appear as. The surrogates represent every human operator's own ideal self image of perfection. It's vanity in its purest sense. Even more intriguing is the reaction that Tom gets when he emerges into society in his actual 'flesh' form. Even though it is not revealed how long it as been since he actually set foot out of his house, we see the immediate disconnect with human interaction. Tom has a huge sensory overload that he nearly collapses as he tries to physically move in a space which he only interacted with through artificial eyes.   

Again, I was really impressed by the detective story that revealed the ethical question of extreme dependence on artificial technology. Surrogates was an entertaining film with many thought provoking ideas. And the scene where everyone drops to the ground in unison was pretty cool to see, and the ending provided a ideal awakening.