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125 comments in total

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62 out of 79 people found the following comment useful :-
GOOD SCI-FI STORYLINE, but not unforgettable, 25 September 2009

Author: raymund salao from Philippines

Surrogates is a sci-fi movie about a future where every human being can connect their bodies into machines & they instantly live a different life through their robotic human-looking surrogates. Anybody can just stay home all day while they are connected online with their surrogates that can just easily live outside in the real world. But when a surrogate was killed along with its user, FBI agent Greer unravels a conspiracy that can lead to the death of billions of lives.

The storyline of this movie falls somewhere around the categories where movies like Blade Runner, Minority Report, and I-Robot belong. A movie that talks about how future technologies can affect human life and provide some philosophical point-of-view that is worth pondering on. The idea of technology progressing into and reaching the boundaries that it becomes an abomination of nature. The movie tends to be thought provoking, but does not make it good enough to be worth an entire evening of discussion.

There were some moments that seemed preachy, but could have been delivered more effectively if given a proper execution or interpretation. I am talking about the moments when our main character realizes the beauty of a world free from technological complexities. We also have the minor subplot of a corporation just concerned about safeguarding their own products. And a main character coming to the realization that these products eventually diminish the humanity of a person.

It is surprising that the weaker point of this movie is the action. The terminator rip-off scenes seemed bland and there was a chase scene with a female surrogate that looked goofy because it employed a "superhero" type of action. To make it worse, there are some visual effects that look like they've been rendered 15 years ago.

With the main character of Bruce Willis running around in his actual human form for most parts of the movie, we realize that he basically is the weaker person in this world of robotic mannequins, and yes we do see him bleed a lot in this movie (it is funny to note that Willis is one of those actors that just look cooler when he gets more scars and bruises, it's like John McClane only without the crazy action). With him being the frail character, that alone clearly reminds you that this is not your regular Bruce Willis action flick. The movie just basically starts out as a futuristic detective-type movie then progresses into the same mood as Willis was in films like "Unbreakable" where he stumbles around a maze that leads him to some enlightening truth.

The high points of this movie lie in the storyline. Second is the way the movie creates this amazing-looking world of a future inhabited mostly by surrogates. The surrealism of the movie is not too far-out that most of what you see seem like they exist in the present world; there are no flying cars or rockets everywhere; its just the simple existence and presence of mannequin-like robots everywhere. The storyline may be good enough to be enjoyably satisfying, but it certainly is not the best, or perhaps not good enough to be groundbreaking.

All in all, SURROGATES is one of those good sci-fi movies that will simply entertain those who are fans of smart sci-fi movies. Action junkies may be a little disappointed though. This is a far cry from Blade Runner, but this certainly gives you a cheaper version of that kind of enjoyment. I loved it. But it is definitely not unforgettable.

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49 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty Good ..., 25 September 2009

Author: WhatTheDeuce7 from Dallas, TX

From reading the mixed reviews, I went into this with low expectations. I left the theater being entertained. The direction, acting, special effects are all A-Grade. The only drawback is that it felt rushed and over edited. There were a couple characters that I wish were more fleshed out. I think a directors cut on DVD will take care of these issues. This is a movie to be seen though on the big screen. The whole concept seems very familiar when watching this movie (if you are fan of sci/fi films) I thought Scanner Darkly meets Blade Runner when viewing this. I am sure Phillip K Dick has influenced this screenplay and graphic novel, as he has done with a lot of current sci-fi. The two films listed above are on my top favorites list when it comes to sci/fi. This doesn't quite come close to those mentioned but it was a fun ride!

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29 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Basically entertaining, 26 September 2009

Author: ToddWebb from Washington, DC

It's a great concept. In the future, the Sims style online gaming, where people live vicariously through characters, has evolved to living out real-life, in the real world, via surrogate robots. Everybody stays home all the time, 24/7. They work, play and travel via their surrogates, from the comfort of their home.

I'm not spoiling anything here -- this all happens in the first 5 minutes. The result of this new era of existence is the dramatic drop in violent crimes, sexually transmitted diseases, death by accident, etc.

Well, it's a great concept. And the CGI is good. Because of the plot, every character is insanely pretty, so the screen is filled with beautiful people.

But... it just... doesn't... quite... gel. The whole thing feels like a cool episode of Star Trek, or something on TV. The story is not riveting. I didn't really care about the characters. The timing was off; things either came too late (I was bored, expecting them) or so fast I couldn't really appreciate.

Surrogates lacks that wow-factor.

Example of bad timing: At the start, one wonders, "What do the users really look like? Anything like like their surrogate robots?" I would expect that, at first, we see Bruce Willis, just some facial hair which his robot doesn't have. Then, eventually, we see that he is older than his robot, so he's "cheating" on age too. Even later still, maybe we'd see an obese person at home posing as an athlete via a surrogate which looks nothing like him. Well, "Surrogates" skips all that build up and goes straight for the punchline: within 10 minutes we see a hot chick robot making with a young man; turns out the hot chick is actually slovenly a middle-aged man. Any twists to come later, in this variety, loses all punch.

Worth a rental.

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24 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
A Nice Hybrid of High Tech Action Thriller Movies, 4 October 2009

Author: tabuno from utah

SURROGATES presents a strong sci fi storyline that isn't so convoluted that it exhausts the viewer from mental analysis of what's going on. It also is crafted well so that unlike a number of sci fi action movies, the balance between the action and the human relationship components are in sync. This hybrid sci fi movie includes elements from I, ROBOT (2004) that introduced many of the similar robotic images, THE MATRIX (1999) that introduced the notion of virtual reality plug ins, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) that introduced a post-modern society isolated from the rest of humanity, and FAHRENHEIT 451 (1966) that presented the dystopic future angst of a couple separated by technology. Bruce Willis continues at the top of his game in this movie bringing an even more subdued and sympathetic character to the screen. The action is compelling and strong, the technological premise of this movie is well executed, and the human/surrogate disconnect is remarkably engaging on an emotional level.

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57 out of 95 people found the following comment useful :-
Bold Finish, 25 September 2009

Author: Victor from United States

When I first began watching the documentary-style introduction to Surrogates, I had to admit I was impressed because I'm a sucker for these openings (I loved District 9), but I was afraid I was in for another cool futuristic type movie like Minority Report or I, Robot. Admittedly, these were two great movies yet I feared this movie would bring nothing new to the table. We've already seen huge interactive ads, protests against machines, moral dilemmas, and conflicted leaders trying to make statements (James Cromwell plays almost the same character in both I, Robot and Surrogates!). What new things could the director of Terminator 3 show us? It turns out he could bring us what I, Robot failed to deliver as effectively: a good knockout resolution. In other words, this movie delivered a non-Hollywood type ending, similar in the vein of Watchmen (though that is thanks to the great Alan Moore). I always appreciate when a director is willing to go out and boldly create a vision (even if it is based on a graphic novel, some directors like Carter Smith still change the ending – as he did for The Ruins movie).

The film is the tale of a world where everyone's basically a couch potato. Technology is so amazing that we can create multiple robots of ourselves, in any form, and control them from the safety of our own homes! We're completely safe as long as we're plugged into the network and no one harms us as we operate the surrogate robot, or "surrey." But as usual, conflict arises and the characters are drawn into a world of corruption, rebellion, and sacrifices. The screenplay is full of twists and turns, all very smart and satisfying, though somewhat predictable. Doesn't really matter to me though; films like these are made for mindless action with parts that make you think. Or so I thought.

Mostow, a natural action director, handles the camera very well in action sequences. It's the usual Hollywood fare with great, fast-moving action and impressive special effects (though I keep thinking of Transformers 2 when I say that, so I probably won't mention CGI again). I also really liked how much he utilizes the element of surprise: there were many moments where I jumped back in shock, though there wasn't anything necessarily that scary. It's just the juxtaposition-ing of calm and BANG. It's clear Mostow is good with the action cam (nothing new in the era of Michael Bay), as he demonstrated in T3, but this time around I was impressed by how he directed the emotional scenes with Bruce Willis and his wife. He handled the feelings well. This in part has to do with Bruce Willis as an actor as well. He did a fine job with this movie, solid. There's also some good humor too, though I think I laughed too much. And it all led to the final punch.

These are all similar-sounding critiques for me. I tend to enjoy cinema for what it is: for pleasure. However, what was different was the ending. I was expecting the typical run-of-the-mill Hollywood ending, but it certainly wasn't (though there was a bit of a twist). I must admit I gasped a bit when I saw the end. I said, "Whoa." If a film, amidst good stuff, brings home something new (District 9, for example, was a seriously good commentary besides an action film), I'm impressed. I appreciate it very much: Mostow keeps the audience in mind. Sure, there were flaws (like its short running time, sometimes it takes itself too lightly) but overall it was a great viewing experience. I was enjoying it as I watched – as I usually do for movies – but the bold Watchmen-like finish really brought it home for me.

Oh, and Ving Rhames was pretty damn bad-ass.

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30 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
Willis makes it watchable, 25 September 2009

Author: Greg (gregmoroberts@yahoo.com) from Oakville, Ontario

With the action heroes of my generation all too old or M.I.A. (Ford, Hackman, Eastwood), I have consistently made the comment, "Thank God for Bruce Willis". Good ole Bruce, aging towards his mid-fifties, consistently brings action films to our local theatres year after year after year. As an actor, he has 70+ projects contained within his historical biography and the guy keeps making bad films mediocre and mediocre films watchable.

Surprisingly, he has but one credit to his name in 2009, Surrogates, a film that looks ripped from just about every other science fiction fantasy you have ever seen or read.

Extracted by a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, Surrogates transports us to a future where people live through robotic surrogates from the privacy and safety of their own sanctuary and can manipulate their avatars into either copies of themselves or they can transform themselves into just about anything they want (I say just about anything because the world was not full of Megan Fox's). The opening credits give us a 14 year history of how we got to whatever future we are in at Present Day.

But when a murder – the first in an eon – occurs, FBI agent Greer (Willis) is assigned the case and his subsequent investigation outside of his own surrogate is filled with enough revelations to bring down the entire Utopian world.

I can't even begin to ramble of the countless movies the Surrogates borrows from in an effort to keep us entertained for the very swift 88 minutes of running time. Hell, there were even a few television programs I thought it copied for certain scenes.

That noted, Surrogates is not all that bad. Director Jonathon Mostow (Terminator 3 – which I actually liked) might not have put the most seasoned piece of sci-fi on the screen, but he could have done much worse with the cheesy premise.

The special effects are kinda few and kinda crappy. A scene with a surrogate riding on the hood of a car was blue screen embarrassment. But the special effects are kept in tow as Mostow tries for more of an atmosphere than he does an all out future world experience.

Bruce Willis always throws me off in movies where he has hair and Ving Rhames shows up as a human (?) who opposes the surrogate conglomerate. It's been 15 years since Rhames and Willis had screen time together and I was thankful there was no plastic ball in their mouth and a gimp parading in front of them while they approached their purpose in the script.

Surprisingly, for all the borrowing and lack of any true originality, Surrogates, is watchable. The ideas are all squished (think of a marshmallow being squeezed through a key hole) into an entertaining if not enthralling sit that might not exactly be worth $50 and a babysitter to make a night out of, but it can easily be a rewarding DVD rental in the new year.

Recommendation is clearly to rent it.

www.killerreviews.com

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51 out of 89 people found the following comment useful :-
Exhilarating and fresh idea in the realm of murder-mysteries, 25 September 2009

Author: sjbadboi from United States

I really enjoy watching fast-paced thrillers and murder-mysteries. Unfortunately most films which are released these days do not put the time nor effort into flushing-out a story. Often times I resort to seedy little horror films to watch a good whodunit film. Therefore Surrogates was definitely a great surprise to me. I went in expecting some idiotic action film which should have gone straight to video and was very surprised at how engaging this film was!

The only reason I didn't give this film a 10/10 rating is because Brancato and Ferris most obviously got the idea for their script from the Wachowski Brother's of "The matrix" fame. The only difference is that instead of entering another reality people enter the body of a robot for which they use to interact with people in the world right from their homes, never having to leave the house. These Surrogates act and talk just like their counterparts back home, linked-up in their cyber-kinetic chairs, although as you will find in the first act, don't always look like them. The entire benefit of using a surrogate is to never be hurt or killed, and also to look the way you want people to see you.

Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell play two FBI agents investigating the destruction of two surrogates and their operators who were connected to them at the time, which up until then has never been possible. Now, I won't ruin anything, but lets just say that if you can use a surrogate to be "anyone you want to be" you might not really always know who you are talking too...or what their ulterior-motives are!!

The storytelling, twists & turns, and fast-paced action really move this film along. Also, the special effects are so well put together that when you are watching people on the screen you really believe out of this world things are happening to them...but to me the best part or character of the film is Radha Mitchell. She is required to take on so many different things here and also be believable, and she pulled it off very well indeed!

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie and at a midnight screening as well. "Surrogates" is definitely worth seeing on the big screen, so don't miss it!

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34 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
Surrogates solid, thought provoking film, 23 September 2009

Author: leadercobra from United States

I went to an advance showing of Surrogates tonight and while it starts out a bit silly I ended up really liking it. The films strives for the mock realism of district nine but ends up falling short of that level of intensity. I have not read the graphic novel upon which the film is based, however knowing it's a multi part graphic novel is a bit odd since the film in incredibly short. I believe it clocks in at less than an hour and a half long. Rarely do I feel that the climax is reached TOO quickly in a film but everything seems to fall into place with little explanation as too how the characters know what's going on other than blind luck.

The movie sees Tom, played by Bruce Willis as a cop whose living through a surrogate. Think i-Robot but with less tension between the humans and the robots. Surrogates function in a way that humans can lie down with caps over their eyes and neurologically control attractive, boring versions of themselves. Curiously, Tom's surrogate is a cop with a blond comb over. Tom however is growing tired of relying on his surrogate. He wants to see his wife more often...his real wife.

In one of the film's many plot holes, a vagrant "meatbag" human (one who is against the idea of surrogates) uses a "device" to kill surrogates which somehow kills humans at the same time by making their brains exploded. If that sounds convoluted...that's because it is. There's many things in this film left unexplained including that aspect as well as the need for surrogates in the first place. Why bother? These thoughts are quickly erased once Tom is on a chase to find out who is trying to kill surrogates and why.

The film has a very fast pace like I said above with from the point of action to the climax very little digression. Within the title crawl you already what surrogates are, what their purpose is and the history of the surrogates. I wish they could slow down a bit and discuss more of the mentality behind the process, but I suppose that's up to the audience to decide.

Surrogates is a film that made me happy to be alive as I walked out and thought about it. It's an entertaining film but I can't help but feel that it falls into the same lines of action/drama/sci fi movies as recent ones like The Happening, I am Legend and i-Robot. It's definitely that kind of movie and if you enjoy that, then it won't disappoint.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty good, 30 September 2009

Author: Neil Welch from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Surrogates is a science fiction detective action thriller. People have taken to staying in the safety of their homes, choosing to go into the world while "wearing" surrogates - robots operated through virtual reality headsets. As a result, crime is at a standstill. However, following the deaths of two people when their surrogates are destroyed, detectives Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell investigate the first murders for years.

Despite the fact that much of this movie bears a strong resemblance to I, Robot, I greatly enjoyed the way its various elements - sci-fi premise, detective whodunnit mystery, Willis' character's backstory, action thriller - were all integrated so well with each other.

Willis has the weight to carry a movie easily, but all the other performers get the chance to cut loose, as they all play at least two characters (their character and their character's surrogate). Effects are well used, particularly the surrogates' faces.

This movie is a pretty good ride, and I enjoyed it a lot.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
a fine performance by Bruce Willis, 10 October 2009

Author: redoddball from United States

Finally saw this and I'm with the majority here... a solid 7/10 film.

This surprisingly compelling sci-fi film takes a while to set up its universe but delivers down the stretch. It's borderline whether they establish enough credibility so as to invest real emotion in to the characters and buy in to the premise. If you allow yourself to buy in to the bizarre concept of living life through android duplicates, then the film works on a few levels. It's somewhat weak on certain of those levels but raises interesting questions concerning the level of our technological dependency as we live our lives. The emotional aspect of this movie plays better thanks to a fine performance by Bruce Willis. His character's journey through this bizarre world is obviously the heart of the film and it's written and portrayed very well.

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