Surrogates, the latest Bruce Willis film, was not what I had hoped it would be. (And I didn't have the highest of hopes in the first place). But what surprised me about this sci-fi /thriller directed by Jonathan Mostow is it fell short in a way I wasn't expecting...This film is of course set in the future. And in this particular future the majority of citizens in the world have opted to have robots live their lives for them. Average citizens, from the comfort of their own home, plug into a neural contraption that allows them to control the 'better looking' robot versions of themselves out in the real world. Everything seems safe and perfect until the murder of one of these surrogates actually causes the death of the human puppeteer. Willis, playing Special Agent Greer and partner Peters, (played by Radha Mitchell) desperately try to solve this homicide case before any other human life is at risk (Even though every human now lies around at home in their bathrobe looking like complete crap -for the preservation of humankind, I'm assuming- it's still important to the FBI to save them).
Being a fan of Bruce Willis I wanted to see this film on the big screen because I hoped that even if the story line was weak I would enjoy Willis' performance. And I expected to be entertained and impressed by some of the special effects. Turns out the opposite was true. Although Willis didn't let me down (except for the really bad toupee), the story line did entail some interesting concepts and it kept the twists and turns of the 'whodunnit' investigation suspenseful. But surprisingly it was the special effects of the movie that really disappointed me. Certain scenes had great potential but everything looked fake and none of the action scenes had a 'wow' factor that CGI technology is more than capable of producing nowadays.
Now don't get me wrong, I didn't find the script to be particularly great or original. Actually, the premise reminded me of I Robot, starring Will Smith (robots made to improve human's quality of life but then suddenly turn dangerous). This association was clinched for me when I saw James Cromwell from I Robot once again playing the mastermind behind the future technology. (It seems Cromwell has been type-casted as a really smart futuristic guy). But the Surrogates script did have some uniqueness to it. While the FBI investigates who would prosper from either the robot technology or the demise of it, the movie shows the possible effects advanced technology could have on the military, powerful corporations and rebellious citizens. And it did a good job at showing how scary some of these effects could be.
Overall, I didn't hate this movie but I still can't decide if it's worth seeing on the big screen. One thing I can say for certain however, is Bruce Willis' latest movie is no "Yippee Kaye Mother F******"
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