SURROGATES - Blu-ray review

I wouldn't mind having a part-time surrogate--someone to go out in a snowstorm to get dinner when the fridge is empty, or to clean the toilet, take out the trash, and show up for meetings that I know are going to be about as unproductive as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. But I'm not the kind of guy who would strap himself into a recliner, flip on the goggles, and pilot the surrogate: seeing through the robot surrogate's eyes and using my thoughts to basically be the surrogate while I lounge in a bathrobe. I don't want that. What I want is a good old-fashioned servant to do my bidding--someone to take my place so I don't have to deal with whatever nonsense I'm trying to avoid.

But that's not how surrogates function in this police action thriller from Jonathan Mostow ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"). Surrogates aren't so much a technological extension of servants as they are an extension of the video games that people now play-the ones that have you creating avatars, characters, and alter egos to manipulate in online competitions and role-playing scenarios. It's like a sci-fi version of where the future of gaming is headed. Life? I'm not so sure. I can't imagine wanting to go to a club and dance and having my "perfect self" swap spit with another perfect self, the operator of which could actually be of a different physical body type . . . or gender. Then again, virtual sex is a reality now, so what do I know?

In this futuristic world envisioned by writers Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "Terminator Salvation"), what began as a curiosity and a way of helping the disabled live more complete lives ended up catching fire in a capitalistic world, with an outfit called VSI selling the public on virtual selves as a way of experiencing life without risk. You can go into bad neighborhoods without fear, because you're using a surrogate. You can enter into relationships just as fearlessly, because if you get dumped it's only your surrogate, your façade that's been trampled. You get to stay home and protect your fragile self. And so the premise of the film is that by an indeterminate time in the future, a full 90 percent of people use surrogates for every aspect of daily life. The office is full of surrogates. The streets are full of surrogates. The bars and clubs are full of surrogates. And when the first murder occurs in God knows how long-apparently there's no point in killing a surrogate, because the owner can simple refurbish the thing or buy another--it's a surrogate FBI agent named Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) who investigates, and his partner, Peters (Radha Mitchell).

The frightening thing about this murder is that it didn't just kill the surrogate. Somehow, the operator was also killed, fried right there in the comfort of his home . . . or dorm room. As it turns out, the operator who was killed just happened to be the son of the inventor of surrogacy (James Cromwell), who was forced out of VSI in a power play. Now it's up to the FBI agents to investigate while keeping a low profile, because if word gets out that you could actually be harmed while operating a surrogate, it could spark widespread panic.

Complicating matters is that the 10 percent of humans who have been vehemently anti-surrogate have taken refuge in camps across the country, fueled in their passion by a dreadlocked leader whom they call The Prophet (Ving Rhames). And complicating matters at home--for after all, you can't have a cop drama without a little bedroom drama--is that Maggie Greer (Rosamund Pike) has been so grief-stricken since a car accident scarred her and killed their son that she has retreated into the world of surrogacy and won't even interact with her husband in the same apartment. She'll only spend time with him through her surrogate.

I have to say that it's a little weird seeing a younger- and more robotic-looking Willis, especially when make-up artists have created a facial pallor that looks eerily artificial. The production design and art design are really very good. When the surrogates are gut-shot or discombobulated they look a little different from the run-of-the-mill bionic heroes and robots we've seen before. The action isn't breathtaking, but the stunts and illusions certainly make it easier for you to buy into the premise rather than dragging it down. And the acting isn't bad--though when you're shooting for robotic, the joke is how can you tell with some of these people if they're acting?

As I see it, the weak link in this film is the concept itself as it was transferred to film. Based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti, the film version of "Surrogates" doesn't emphasize the "narcotic" aspect of people getting hooked on surrogacy that the book did. And viewers can see fairly early where the narrative is headed. For a cop procedural, that's not ideal. The other thing is that "Surrogates" sets itself up as a kind of moral dialectic: science and technology vs. humanity. But it's pretty clear-cut and doesn't really pose enough pluses on the surrogate side of the ledger to make for a compelling ethical debate. Perhaps if the addictive quality of surrogacy had been played up more it would have helped, but the benefits and the "rush" that operators get is never really explored enough. As Tim David Raynor said in his theatrical review, "the film just comes across as your average sci-fi thriller."

"Surrogates" is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality, and a drug-related scene."

Video:
There are plenty of moments where the camera goes soft-focus on background or foreground elements, and you can't fault a production for a director's decision. But during those moments you pick up a lot more grain that you see in the rest of the film. At times other sequences seem a little soft and sometimes full of visual background noise. As for the rest of the visuals, it's almost hard to gauge. The surrogates aren't supposed to have porous skin textures, and they don't. This future world is still supposed to be full of color (not post-apocalyptic dreariness), and it is. It's a decent picture, in other words, but I wouldn't pop it in to impress the neighbors. "Surrogates" is presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:
Disney went with an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (48kHz/24-bit) featured audio that makes a statement in ways that the film itself doesn't. The bass announces itself with a full presence, and all of the speakers get into the mix, providing a fluid and dynamic sound experience. The mix is near-perfect, with a nice balance of spoken lines, music, background effects, and ambient sound, and an aggressive but not overly obnoxious channeling of sounds into the effects speakers. Less dynamic but still somewhat impressive are the Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 options. Subtitles are in French, Spanish, and English SDH.

Extras:
Like the film itself, the "Surrogates" audio commentary by director Mostow too often dwells in the land of the obvious, though Mostow approaches the task-at-hand with seriousness and he covers all of the expected bases: pre-production, production, and post-production. Anecdote fans will wish for a few more, and techie will also want for more, but it's a solid (and yes, average) mainstream commentary track.

The only other bonus features run just about a half-hour, total. Besides an "I Will Not Bow" music video from Breaking Benjamin and four deleted scenes, there's a brief (7 min.) attempt to treat the inspiration for the film in "Breaking the Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes to Life," and in "A More Perfect You: The Science of Surrogates" (the best feature, by the way) a number of talking heads weigh in on the concept of surrogates, robotics, and where technology might be headed. In other words, how far into the future is this, really?

Both mini-features and the deleted scenes are exclusive to Blu-ray, so the DVD has even fewer bonus features.

Bottom Line:
"Surrogates" is a cop film that's familiar except for being set in a future world of surrogates. And it wants to be more morally complex than it is. But "Surrogates" is still entertaining, and the PG-13 rating makes it more of a contender for family viewing than many sci-fi films.