Posted: 01/20/2010

Surrogates 2010

by Michael J. Nicholas

It’s the near future and people exist in an isolated form of being, interacting almost exclusively through very ‘good-looking’ robotic copies of themselves that serve as surrogates. After a number of humans are murdered due to their ‘personal twins’ being destroyed, an FBI agent(Bruce Willis) seeks the truth behind the killings through his own surrogate. Once his own robotic ‘twin’ is wrecked, he must bring himself out of confinement to unravel the mysterious deaths.

Adapted from the graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, the screenplay from this realistically antisocial world that we’re headed to is brought to life from the minds of Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato. Directing credits go to Jonathan Mostow, who also was behind ‘T3: Rise Of The Machines’, whereas Mr. Ferris and Mr. Brancato get the accolades for writing ‘T3’ and ‘Terminator Salvation’.

I personally found the premise of the movie to be quite interesting, especially since technology has proven to drive us humans down a path of negative and irreversible personality traits, consisting of over-the-top narcissism, alienation and seclusion. Unfortunately, the film fails to live up to it’s own potential by slapping a big, ‘Made In Hollywood’ tag on itself. Predictable dialogue and action sequences run right after one another, forging thoughts like, “I’ve seen this all before!”, “Really?!”, and “Not again!” Surrogates is not a bad movie but definitely won’t be winning awards either. It’s worth a view because of the storyline and actors but don’t get the hopes up too high on this one.

Bonus Features Surrogates on DVD includes:

* Commentary with director Jonathan Mostow
* “I Will Not Bow” Music Video by Breaking Benjamin

The Surrogates Blu-ray contains the DVD extras plus exclusive bonus features that go into the heart of the film’s intriguing premise:

* A More Perfect You: The Science of Surrogates — The world of surrogates is not far away! Mind-controlled robotics is already in use in today. This featurette explores the realities of this technology and offers an in-depth look into the creation of the superhuman versions of the cast created for this film.
* Breaking the Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes to Life — A visual exploration of the evolution of Surrogates from graphic novel to major motion picture from the earliest designs and sketches. Pivotal sequences come to life in a dazzling 3-D animated experience.
* Four Deleted Scenes

Michael J. Nicholas - a.k.a. Nicky The Note - reviews, opinions & life lessons.

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