Sunday, February 7, 2010

NMR: Surrogates

Hopefully the movies reviews are going to keep coming in at a regular pace. If you're unfamiliar with this movie, it was a sci-fi flick starring Bruce Willis that came out last fall. Based on the trailers it appeared to be a mix of The Matrix and I, Robot. While that was true from a plot perspective, this movie fails to reach any of the intellectual highs that those films had.

The story centers around most people using robots to do their daily functions while everyone controls them from the comforts of their own home. When a cop (played by Bruce Willis wearing a variety of laughable wigs) discovers that someone can be killed as a result of their surrogate robot being destroyed, he investigates who's behind it before the entire population is put in danger.

The film initiates a lot of interesting questions, both technological and philosophical, but never really explores them. At under 90 minutes, the film barely has enough time to get any action in, let alone delve into the significance of the world it has created. The film does provide some comic relief, however it appears to be more of the unintentional kind. Most of it comes from Ving Rhames playing a radical leader who's trying to end the usage of surrogates. Despite wearing dreadlocked hair and a bushy beard, it's still clear it is Rhames, which makes it difficult to take anything the character says seriously.

Surrogates is a fun diversion, but nothing more. It wouldn't have been worth a recommendation in theaters, but is harmless enough to be enjoyed on the small screen. If you enjoy Willis or the sci-fi genre, this is probably worht a rental. Grade: C+

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