Film Review's

'Surrogates'

Director Jonathan Mostow returns to familiar robotic territory after the disappointing 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', to take another look into the world’s reliance on technology and the pitfalls that inevitably follow.

It's a familiar concept, with the world's ever increasing dependence on gadgets and gismos it's second nature to have our whole lives contained within a portable device of some kind and if it can't be downloaded from the internet or emailed then surely it's not worth looking at. So with our business and personal lives wrapped in the safety of an electronic bubble, why not our whole conscious too?

Set in the not to distant future the standardization of robotic avatars has become commonplace, each and every human being now hooked up to a Lawnmoverman come Matrix style virtual-reality system which allows varying levels of our alternative selves to be sent out into a virtually crime free world without fear of illness or death! Of course there are non-believers who think this is a abomination and live out an existence separate from the modernized world, these free spirited non conformists - led by a ridiculously dreadlocked and bearded Ving Rhames names The Prophet - believe through selfishly indulging in such disconnected lives we are quickly loosing our humanity. And it's in this separation of beliefs that the main conflict of the story can be found.

As two seemingly unconnected 'Surrey' get off lined but a mysterious Mcguffin - this time in the form of a military developed 'OD' weapon - capable of frying the synthetics along with there online operators, and with one of them being the son of 'Surrogate father' Older Canter (James Cromwell) the conspiracy theories and double-crossing cat and mouse games soon flow thick and fast.

Unfortunately the story never really develops past taking a surface look at mans achievements before going full circle to discover that we were probably better off as we were, warts and all. Fat, bolding men can appear as leggy blondes, people can live out hedonistic lifestyles without fear of reprisal and Bruce Willis can look a good 20 years younger! With 90% of the film's action involving these alternative characters, all plastic and soulless, it's hard to find a way to feel in any way connected to them - much like the films underlying theme. This makes for thoroughly lifeless and one dimensional leading roles, especially from Bruce Willis as detective *** who juggles working the case while simultaneously trying to recapture a fading relationship with his wife (Rosamund Pike) as she becomes more and more dependant on her virtual life.

There are some nice touches, the way in which we watch Willis go through the shock therapy of reacquainting his now agoraphobic self to the sights and sounds of the world as his human senses get a thorough dusting off, or the few ends scenes which touch on a more personal level and the small hint of what war might come to. It's just a shame that these moments come to late, neither the answers nor the questions are big enough, choosing instead to stick to familiar and very well trodden ground which would be easily forgivable if the film was just a bit more fun.

This isn't helped by more than a few winks and nods to films such as 'I Robot' and 'Artificial Intelligence' which story wise this draws heavily from, as well as Mostow's own 'T3', with special effects and what little humor there is most similar to the latter - it’s all a bit to serious.

It's a hard balance to get right, fantasy and reality, action and emotion, but sadly this is one sci-fi blockbuster that misses the mark by some considerable distance. Rosamund Pike goes a long way to save things but with a weak script, predictable story and poor direction hindering it at almost every step, it didn't really stand a chance. Send a Surrogate instead!

**