|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
Surrogates took a nice run at it, but it’s really a run-of-the-mill science-fiction/detective story that reeks of the Nineties.
And, it’s kind of lacklusterly made.
About the film The Movie Man likes Bruce Willis; he’s a movie star in an era when there are so few these days. And like real movie stars, he makes good, bad, and ugly movies – impressive since he’s one of the few actors to make the jump from TV to the big screen.
Some of the goods – Die Hard (1988); Pulp Fiction (1994, Movie Man No. 48, an ‘o’ in non-number days, a 6 today); a Movie Man favorite, Nobody’s Fool (1994, MM #62, ‘+’ a 7/8); Twelve Monkeys (1995, MM #109, 6); The Fifth Element (1997, MM #180, 9); and The Sixth Sense (1999). Some of the bads – The Last Boy Scout (1991), Striking Distance (1993, MM #13, ‘-’ a 3/4); and The Whole Ten Yards (2004). Some of the uglies – The Bonfires of the Vanities (1990, still one of the worst adaptations of a popular book ever); North (1994, even though Willis is just the narrator, the stench of this one still clings to him some); The Story of Us (1999, MM #309, 3); and Perfect Stranger (2007, one of the most universally panned movies since North). Who knows how one of his upcoming movies is going to fare? Willis has a part in Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, the late summer 2010 release that is jammed full of every action star ever. How could one resist a roster of Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwarznegger? Jean-Claude Van Damme’s cell phone battery must’ve been dead. The plot (minor spoiler) In the future, robots act as surrogates; while humans stay hooked up to machines at home, their “surries” – built to supermodel looks specifications – interact for them in the world. As a result, murder, crime, and STDs almost disappear as replaceable robots interact. But a rare murder changes things. It looks like one of the intercity “human only” reservations that hold out against surrogates have killed the creator of the surries, Canter (James Cromwell), with an unknown super-weapon. But it’s actually Cromwell’s son who dies. From their homes, cops Tom (Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) send their surrogate-selves out to investigate. The path leads to a reservation where The Prophet (Ving Rhames) rules over the anti-robot faithful. Willis, who is still wrestling with his domestic life after the death of a son and a wife who insists on only being seen via her lovely surrogate, finds trouble on the reservation. Disgraced and suspended from the police force, Willis shocks many by daring to wander around in public. Eventually, Willis traces down the source of the weapon’s creator – and what its eventual use is going to be. It all comes down to a Yes/No command on a keyboard. What works Surrogates looks good, illustrating a sometimes grimy near-future where technology has “improved” and advanced humanity. Director Jonathan Mostow (who made the good U-571 [2000, MM #336, 7; remember when Matthew McConaughey wasn’t a punchline?] and the not-as-good Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [2003, MM #515, 6]) knows his way around special effects, and the ones in Surrogates are flawless. Willis is laid back here and he plays smoldering well. The dichotomy between the actual aging humans holed-up in their homes hooked up to a contraption that allows them to direct the robots and the beautiful if soulless surries is clear. Best scene Leaving a hospital, human Willis is freaked out at actually being in public. He staggers, scared, through a maze of surrogates, all cruising right along at the bidding of their owners. The real world is suddenly the last place a human wants to be in – unless you’re on a reservation. What doesn’t work While things look good early in Surrogates, the film somehow stalls; it doesn’t become as inviting or exciting as it possibly could have. Except for Willis – and not 100 percent there – the humans aren’t much to root for. Cromwell, playing crusty old inventors/generals/politicians so well these days, isn’t used often enough. The ending lurches to its conclusion, the mystery nothing new. However, its logic is stumbling as you’ll discover if you think about it for a while. (Why doesn’t Willis fall out late?) The rating (spoiler) The PG-13 attached to Surrogates is correct. While there are some gory spots – when surrogates are killed, so are their human controllers, each’s eyes burnt out – and a smattering of foul language, the PG-13 is really mild for these days. Summing up Surrogates is made up of ample helpings of WALL-E (2008, MM #779, 7) and I, Robot (2004, MM #569, 6). While both of those movies are superior, Surrogates isn’t a total loss. Science fiction fans will enjoy this lesser effort. Next up The Movie Man is hooked on the trailer for Zombieland; it might end up being a dumb, brain-eating version of Eight Legged Freaks (2002, MM #466, 6), but the Movie Man is interested. More so for Zombieland than Whip It. |
|
