Surrogates

Director Jonathan Mostow’s first feature since 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Surrogates transpires within a futuristic world where the majority of people live in isolation and rely on surrogate robots to conduct their day-to-day affairs. Problems ensue after a mysterious figure begins knocking off surrogates (and their human hosts) with a powerful new weapon, with the bulk of the proceedings subsequently following two cops (Bruce Willis’ Tom and Radha Mitchell’s Peters) as they attempt to solve the increasingly convoluted mystery. There’s little doubt that Surrogates fares best in its opening half hour, as Mostow effectively emphasizes the various sci-fi elements within Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato’s screenplay to exceedingly positive (and fascinating) effect. And although Ferris and Brancato’s refusal to answer many of the questions posed by the premise (eg how are those that use surrogates able to avoid things like bed sores, obesity, etc, etc?) is occasionally frustrating, it’s initially easy enough to overlook such concerns as a result of the inherently compelling nature of the film’s progressively plausible futuristic landscape. The movie’s slow-but-steady transformation from an intriguing sci-fi drama to a lamentably conventional cop thriller is consequently disappointing and increasingly tough to stomach, with the less-than-enthralling vibe ultimately compounded by the tedious action sequences and a periodic emphasis on Tom’s disintegrating marriage to Rosamund Pike’s Maggie – as the majority of their scenes together possess a distinctly (and needlessly) melodramatic quality that’s otherwise absent from the production. Were it not for the inclusion of a genuinely stirring climax, Surrogates would undoubtedly come off as a disappointingly uneven endeavor that can’t quite live up to its stellar setup – yet the high note with which the movie concludes, coupled with the affecting first act, ensures that viewers with even a passing interest in science fiction will find something worth embracing here.

**1/2 out of ****