Stiff, like a surrogate
Based on a graphic novel by the same name (well, almost), Surrogates follows the path of FBI agent Tom Greer, who is investigating the murder of the son of the Surrogate inventor. What Tom uncovers is more than a simple case of homicide; it’s a conspiracy that could potentially risk the lives of all humans and surrogates alike.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, the movie severely overcomplicates itself to the point where it simply cannot decide what story it wants to tell. The murder mystery plot point could have certainly stayed intact the way it was, but the story of humanity losing itself to perfection certainly could have been on its own as well. The problem occurs when director Jonathan Mostow had a tough time deciding which direction to take the film. Instead of going one way or another he combines both into the film and in turn complete collapses the storyline because there is simply too much to explain and not enough to explain it all. Mostow really wants to say that there’s this huge overlying meaning to all of it, but the murder gets in the way. The movie tries to wrangle in both plot points to form a cohesive story, but it ends up solving two different mysteries that no one truly gave a damn about anyway. This is as irritating as Spider-Man 3, as you have too many villains and plot points, while it could have simply had one strong direction using only one of those plot points.
As for the acting, Willis did a fine job as Tom Greer. Willis did what he was suppose to do as an action hero. He jumped off buildings, got beat up a lot and even solved the mystery at the end and saved the world from itself. He was certainly the strongest cog in the machine. From there the development seems to fall way off the map as a variety of characters, who can’t really be called ‘supporting’ interfere in the overall storyline. An example of this is Greer’s wife played by Rosamund Pike. She played a horribly insecure housewife that would not give up her surrogate, even if it meant giving up her husband (Willis). While her character was commendable, she simply got in the way of the story’s flow. She brought down Willis’ character (instead of building it up) and seemed shallower than a kiddy pool at a city park. She brought nothing to the stories and should have possibly joined their son (in the story) as deceased in a car wreck; yes, she was that useful. Willis would have been better playing this movie by himself because there simply wasn’t a good supporting cast to help him along (and it could have been the writing more than the actors/actresses).
Moving on to the blu-ray portion of this movie, it certainly shined. Minus the drab sets and the limited location, the picture quality of the HD film really did itself some good. I know that Walt Disney does a fine job with ensuring blu-rays are worth the price consumers pay for them, so I would expect nothing less from this Touchstone film. The audio really improved from the theatrical release as well, as it came through remastered for the disc format. To put it simply, what a waste of good visuals and audio, but alas nothing can be perfect.
Finally, as for the features on the Surrogates blu-ray, here’s what to expect:
– Commentary with director Jonathan Mostow
– “I Will Not Bow” Music Video by Breaking Benjamin
– A More Perfect You: The Science of Surrogates
– Breaking the Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes to Life
– Four Deleted Scenes
The features were really entertaining, as they explored a lot of different viewpoints regarding the film and technology as a whole. The commentary was interesting, as Mostow gave some insight and intentions to what was happening in Surrogates. The rest of it was novel, but was clearly held up by the commentary and the ‘The Science of Surrogates’.
