TRAILER PARK: Surrogates

Based on a five-issue graphic novel, Surrogates proposes a future where humanity live their lives by proxy, choosing to connect to "surrogate" robotic bodies when interacting with the world and each other. Bruce Willis plays Agent Greer, a lawman investigating the murder of several robot surrogates (the death of your avatar equals actual death for the human controller), but he soon realizes he'll have to leave his surrogate body and venture out into the world as himself to untangle the murder-mystery...

It's a neat premise, combining elements of The Matrix (well, hardware not software) and the upcoming Avatar and Gamer. Interestingly, the idea of humans controlling physical stand-ins like puppetmasters is as serendipitiously hot-topic as virtual/false reality was 10 years ago¹. Surrogates is directed by Jonathan Mostow (U-571, Terminator 3) and certainly has a sparkle to the production design and some cool-looking FX. Worryingly, it's also something of a Terminator reunion, with T3 (and 4's) writers behind the script -- John Brancato and Michael Ferris. They guys who also did the risible Catwoman and The Net...

Willis' presence is also no indicator of good quality these days, sadly -- but he should be a capabale lead in this kind of role. Although I'm creeped-out by surrogate Willis and his terrible blonde wig -- and have they used CGI to make his surrogate-self look younger? His skin appears to have that waxy falseness we saw in X-Men III when CGI turned the clock back a few decades for Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen...

Released: 25 September 2009 (US/UK)
HD Downloads: 480P (81MB) | 720P (154MB) | 1080P (208MB)

1. I'm primarily referring to The Matrix (1999), Dark City (1998), The Truman Show (1997), The Thirteenth Floor (2000) and eXistenZ (1999). Also note how Charlie Kaufman's Being John Malkovich (1999) is now shown to have been way ahead of its time, by using this body-control idea in a more cerebral way a full decade ago.