Flicks-a-saurus Rex

Surrogates

Starring: Bruce Willis

MPAA - Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene.

Sex/Nudity – There is a club scene with a bunch of scantily clad women. A man and a woman sneak out the back and make out, she is dressed in lingerie. There are robots throughout the film bare chested or private parts conveniently covered that look very human like.

Violence/Gore – A lot of people and robots get shot at. Some people are found in their chairs dead, blood pouring out their eyes, ears, and nose. Some robots get shot and green blood comes out of them. There are a few gun fights, car chases, ext. where people get hit, shot, and what not. The gore is pretty limited but there is a lot of action.

Profanity – There are a few religious exclamations, some instances of the “S” word, and a 5 or 6 scattered obscenities. Honestly the language was very limited in this film. Most PG movies have more swearing than this one.



Surrogates really could have been a great movie. It was like I, Robot meets Avatar meets Paycheck. Unusually good for a summer full of barely tolerable action popcorn flicks, Surrogates is what I wanted to see in Avatar, or at least it was getting there. It could have been great if a little bit more time had been put into developing the characters and turning the plot up a little bit. It was instead a fun action movie with some interesting moments.

I like Bruce Willis movies in general. I have been a fan of his for a while, and Surrogates is one of his more average films. The plot was decent. People of the word have robots that they control from home that allow them to do whatever they want and be safe from really being hurt, but now they no longer live life for themselves. Bruce Willis works for the FBI and is trying to solve what might be the first murder in years. The movie brings up some good points about humanity today. We all focus so much on our own lives that we lose touch with people around us.
Willis’ character feels this because his wife won’t even leave her room but instead uses her Surrogate to do everything including interaction with her husband.

There was really some room to grow these characters and understand the back story of Willis’ son’s death. This motivation drives Willis through the movie but we never really understand what happens. Instead there is more focus on getting the movie finished. The plot speeds along, skimming the surface, but never letting viewers really get into the film. The action is pretty cool and the plot twist is pretty surprising. However the movie is kind of anti-climatic compared to the rest of the film. When I discussed the movie with some friends afterwords we agreed it was a lot like the move Paycheck, in that it was exciting and fun to watch, but you can’t really see it over and over again, it is just not interesting enough to keep watching.



All in all this is a 6.5 to 7 out of 10. I liked it better than Max Payne, it wasn’t as formulaic, but it really could have been a lot better if the writers had put more time into character development and expanded the plot a little bit. If you liked Paycheck (as we said before), Die hard 4, I, Robot, then you will enjoy Surrogates. I liked it, but it could have been so much better.