Year of release: 2009
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Stars: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, James Francis Ginty, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames, Jack Noseworthy
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Synopsis:Jonathan Mostow has forged himself a career as a director of action films that have decidedly a very B-movie approach. Much in the vein of what John Carpenter forged with "They Live!", Jonathan Mostow returns with "Surrogates" which has a great premise: people in their vast majority have ceased to interact socially, and have replaced themselves with perfect robot counterparts that do all their functions and jobs. There is a counter-movement that wants to abolish this way of life, and bring back humans to their every day lives. When one "Surrogate" gets killed, and so does his "user", the FBI is brought in to investigate the case. Heading the case is Tom Greer whose life has been touched by tragedy in past years. His probing into the case unveils a lot more than anyone might expect. The film has some traces that connect it with another recent big budget film, "I Robot" from director Alex Proyas, but "Surrogates" goes in a different direction. The film is an analogy for the alienation of human contact and the need to interact and feel, that is something eminently human. Jonathan Mostow is a director that goes straight to the core of things, very much in the tradition of his previous best films, namely "Terminator 3" and "Breakdown". Bruce Willis manages to create a good character, and his sad and tired gaze suit the character perfectly. The only falter the film has is it's own limited ambitions. As it is, it's a quickly discardable entertainment piece.
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