14/06/2017

Surrogates

              
'Surrogates' looks slick, and the cinematography creates an expensive sci-fi thriller aura. The premise is also pretty good, though its execution and the world building is often terrible. Once we get into the details of the premise - that robotic “surrogates” have become a thing (safer, your choice of body, etc) it begins to break down (like, what, everyone in the world owns one of these things? The only people who don't use them all the time are the ones who protest it on a religious/moral level? What do these things cost, a dollar?) Also, all the tech other than the robot people is the same as it is today, making the robots really stand out and creating a fault in the believability of the fiction. The rest of the world needs to fit the sexy robots, really.
          
          
It also totally lacks subtlety, and fails to look too deeply into the morality problems that the film's premise creates (which is arguably the main component of any good sci-fi).
It still provides a reasonably engaging thriller plot though, and gives Willis plenty of opportunities to crash cars, jump through fires, and generally do what he does. I don't he was the best choice to lead the film though, as a more subtle and less action-orientated actor could have starred in a more thoughtful and character-driven movie.
             
Surrogates: 35.4