Broken Frontier

Based on the Robert Venditti comic book series, Jonathan Mostow’s Surrogates is set in the near future, when human beings interact with the outside world and one another entirely through robotic avatars called surrogates, which are idealized versions of themselves that they control from the comfort of their homes. While using their surrogates, humans are insulated from physical harm, communicable disease and the potentially dangerous consequences of their real-life actions.

With social networking sites like Facebook in some ways replacing actual human contact in the present day, Surrogates is an effective modern cautionary tale. If we fully embrace technology to the point where it overtakes our lives completely, what are we sacrificing in the process?

The film kicks off when the son of surrogate inventor Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell) is murdered—the first such case in years. The assailant uses a mysterious weapon that kills humans when their surrogates are destroyed, which was previously thought to be impossible. FBI Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) and his partner (Radha Mitchell) are called in to investigate the case, which brings them in direct conflict with the anti-surrogate Dreads (led by a dreadlocked Ving Rhames) and some other enemies that won’t be spoiled here. All the while, Greer is trying to salvage his relationship with his wife, Maggie (Rosamund Pike), whose obsession with surrogacy is creating a rift between them.

The cast is great overall, particularly Willis. His vulnerability is convincing—especially when he is forced to solve the case without his surrogate—and his chemistry with Pike makes their strained marriage all the more heartbreaking.  This isn’t the wisecracking Willis from the Die Hard franchise, but he brings a pained stoicism that works for this role.

The contrast between the surrogates and humans in this film is fascinating to watch. When not in surrogate form, humans are portrayed as weathered, over-medicated and sad. Through their surrogates, they’re able to live the lives they believe they want, but there’s a thin layer of artifice that prevents full satisfaction from this simulated reality.

Despite its thought-provoking premise, Surrogates spends the bulk of its 89-minute running time rushing audiences through a fairly disinteresting murder mystery plot, which is surprisingly predictable despite some third-act plot twists. Things pick up at the end, but one can’t help but feel that this film could have used an extra 20 minutes or so to explore its heady ideas.

While it’s never as interesting as the universe it inhabits, Surrogates is a serviceable action flick that entertains while asking some probing questions of its audience.