Directed by:
Jonathan MostowCinematography:
Oliver WoodComposer:
Richard MarvinCast:
Bruce Willis, Rosamund Pike, Radha Mitchell, Ving Rhames, Valerie Azlynn, James Cromwell, Boris Kodjoe, Michael Cudlitz, Jack Noseworthy, Helena Mattsson (more)Plots(1)
In the not-so-distant future, where people experience life through perfect surrogates controlled from the safety of their own homes, murder is a thing of the past. But when a college student linked to the creator of these replicants is killed, one FBI agent must re-enter reality and risk his life to unravel the mystery. In the battle of technology versus humanity, who can you trust? Experience every electrifying moment of this mind-blowing movie. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel. (Walt Disney US)
(more)Videos (3)
Reviews (9)
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.
()
The square root of film adaptations of Phillip K. Dick, both the good and the bad ones. A generic and stupid sci-fi B-movie with a not stupid idea that the right hands could be the base of a new Blade Runner. In the end, it’s actually like Total Recall, but without the action.
()
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.
()
I remembered the film from 2009 as pretty good sci-fi fun, so I wanted to recall it years later. Surrogates is a good movie, it just has trouble crossing over into the "better" movie category. Jonathan Mostow unfortunately isn't that experienced a director and didn’t have to climb the filmmaking ranks of other big names, and that's probably where the whole result stems from. For the kind of material he's working with here, he doesn’t the potential to its fullest, the concept of surrogates and the sci-fi world is so broad that it could have been worked into at least a two-hour feature or better yet a series; 85 minutes is definitely not enough to do that, it feels very abbreviated and straightforward, which on the one hand makes the film move quickly and doesn't get boring, but on the other hand it offers a feeling of incompleteness. That said, as an average action film for an undemanding viewer it works fine.
()
I like positive sci-fi and because the genre has received a nice beating from fantasy in the last two decades, and pure sci-fi films are currently quite rare. I should thus appreciate any film not teeming with wizards, elves, dragons, or mythical powers. Unfortunately, a lot more is needed for a quality experience and one of the fundamental things I insist on is for the fantastic world to be logical and fully functional within its system. Unfortunately, Surrogates completely fails in this regard. Practically the whole film submits to the superficial spectacle with slick visuals, top-notch special effects, a star-studded cast, and an overall bombastic production. However, the screenplay is full of holes and I would have to completely turn off my brain for this spectacle to become bearable for me. Some films only take a part of their source material and forfeit deeper meaning, but if they function within their invented world, I have no major objections to a popcorn spectacle. But Mostow's world is built on nonsense. It is simply subservient to us watching flashy chases ending with a helicopter crash or robot surrogates jumping from one car to another. It is even more disappointing considering the involvement of several excellent actors and the wasted budget. Overall impression: 25%.
()
Gallery (37)
Photo © Walt Disney Studios
![Surrogates - Promo](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/164/099/164099914_94baeb.jpg)
Ads