Weekly Review -- Soul adhesives

Surrogates (2009) -- There were quite a few films released last year that dealt with the issue of virtual alter egos, the most successful one being the visually and thematically transcending Avatar. Another one was the barely seen and underrated Gamer, which took a satirical glance at a possible bloated version of our already indulgent society. However, Surrogates is on a different end of the spectrum... in fact, try another spectrum altogether. It does not succeed as an action movie or food for thought, both of which are undoubtedly what Jonathan Mostow's latest work was meant to represent. A few years into the future, humanity has found a way to experience life with all of its pleasures and none of its pains. The entire population has commenced living through engineered robots, a turn of events that gradually eliminated crime and left the world squeaky clean, in terms of sterile interactions and artificial exteriors. The deceptiveness of this utopia rears its honest head when a surrogate and its operator are murdered, and top FBI agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) has to leave his polished synthetic shell to search for the killer. Amid clashes with technology inventor Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell) and the pro-human Dread movement, led by sermon-oriented Prophet (Ving Rhames), Greer and his partner (Radha Mitchell) are starting to have problems separating their virtual existence from the literal truth... The entire story feels vacuously pointless to begin with. Why would you waste your life being plugged into a living doll? If the premise itself does not make sense, then the rest of the movie is pretty hard to swallow; the problem is, the story could have gone in a number of different directions, when one takes into account its value in the Internet age. I have not read the graphic novel but, from what I have heard, it is ripe with political and social commentary, something that the movie only hints at and never fully explores, opting instead for an incohesive frenzy of action and CGI mash-ups. The characters never go beyond a single dimension, making it impossible for the viewer to empathize in any way. Willis is competent as Greer, while Cromwell and Rosamund Pike, as Greer's bereaved wife, show the most nuance with the thankless screenplay. The one film that Surrogates reminds me of, in terms of exchanging provocative ideas for a whole lot of slam and bang, is the 2000 Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner The Sixth Day, which started off as a topical millennium tale about cloning and dissipated into a ludicrous Gordian Knot soon after the beginning. Some adapted narratives are better if they stick to the basics of their foundation and expand the statements of the original through the visual medium. Unfortunately, Surrogates does not adhere to this rule and the potential of its themes suffers for it. See it if you are a Willis fan; otherwise, forget about it and treat yourself to the marvelous Avatar once again.

4/10