Surrogates, A Review

(I'm going to plagiarize myself and repost what I blogged about on another site a few days ago. The content still applies.)

I thought I'd review Surrogates, a movie currently playing in theaters. It's a mystery with a bit of sci-fi and suspense expertly woven throughout the story.

The gist of this film is that humanity no longer lives and experiences anything themselves. They use surrogates, robotic hybrids, to live for them. Humans connect to these robots via a device (that looks like a funky LazyBoy) while they sit at home in bathrobes. No lie. Most every human in the movie wore pajamas while at home.

The premise is interesting in and of itself. Imagine being able to leap tall buildings, fall from a bridge or rooftop, or swim for hours. The surrogate may die, but the human will not. Cool...and in comes the suspense. Because a surrogate dies, and its human dies with it. Cops die via their surrogates. A super-secret weapon is exposed. Rebel human factions (the Dreads) enter the fray, convinced surrogates are the enemy. More people die, more threats are exposed.

I was interested from the get-go and the movie kept me fascinated throughout. There's mystery, character growth (the hero and his wife have issues, an interesting dynamic), and a general thought-provoking concept making you wonder whether robots will help or harm humanity in the long run. When exactly do we as a people lose ourselves in technology? Are we losing ourselves now, I ask myself as I type on my computer?

It's a definite must see if you like to think about what-if's. The acting was decent, the plot fast paced and somewhat predictable, though not an easy guess. I'd give it a strong B+. There's violence, so it's not for the squeamish, but not much gore past the green goo that oozes from the surrogates.

Check out Surrogates. You won't be disappointed. And just in case you were wondering, this movie is NOT for small children. The rating is PG-13.