Only skin deep and a copy itself

Scientific tales that take the thinnest threads of theories and stretch them to exotic ends can be a lot of fun. The Matrix taught us our world may not be as real as we think. Terminator warns of the dangers in advancing robotic technology. And Surrogates suggests that living life by mechanical-proxy may be a better way to go. Some of these stories are thorough and game-changing, and others like Surrogates, are just skin-deep. The Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3)-directed film, however, does get a knod for supporting the idea that people truly are ugly on the inside.

As the Virtual Self Industries (VSI) sales pitch goes, why risk life and limb experiencing the dangers of daily life first-hand when you can do it through a surrogate? What those crafty marketers don’t tell you is that resigning yourself to a primarily mental existence can turn you into one of those plump space-humans from WALL-E; except in Surrogates, you’re stuck in a souped up Lazy Boy as opposed to a zippy scooter. Greer (Bruce Willis) and his wife, Maggie (Rosamund Pike), are two such sedentary customers of VSI, who took to their brainy life following a family tragedy. From the comfort of their respective rooms, the two direct their surrogates through the daily grind. Maggie’s a surrogate beautician, peeling back silicon faces and setting artificial hair, while Greer is a FBI agent. At this point in the future, virtually everyone running around outside of the home is a surrogate, save for volatile bands of resistant humans known as Dreads The movie kicks into gear when it’s discovered that an operator died as a result of critical damage to its surrogate — something that has never happened — and a “skin job” is the prime suspect.

After a number of obligatory investigative sequences to move the story along, Greer catches up to the killer, who managed this ground-breaking murder with an unusual hand-held weapon. Despite the hum-drum Radio Shack appearance, the munition packs a formidable, eye-frying punch. Much of the film surrounds the pursuit of this weapon; and they are some impressive pursuits, at that. While Surrogates has a pretty empty feel overall, the film jolts to life when showing the full physical capabilities of the robotic proxies. Getting hit by cars, advancing through urban landscapes, and walking off a severed limb is all in a day for a surrogate. Greer, therefore, is at a substantial deficit when he must unplug to continue his investigation and return to the weakened motor movements of his flesh-and-blood body.

Surrogates wants the audience to reflect on the consequences to our existence when we plug in and don’t live life first-hand. A few delicate scenes between Greer and his withdrawn wife service this philosophical aim well enough, but the sentiment isn’t carried very far. More compelling is what happens to you when you adopt a life lounging behind closed curtains. Operators are veritable cave trolls, physically deteriorating with all the maladies of an addict, creating an isolated, ugly pajama population. If that’s the consequence of plugging in, then yank the chord now.

Surrogates begins with an interesting premise, but it doesn’t dig beneath the surface much. The film may have been a bit more provocative if it hadn’t disappointingly borrowed so much from iRobot. That 2004 film by Alex Proyas imagined a future where robots who started off as simple accessories to society turned on their creators. James Cromwell played the “father” of the robot population, Dr. Lanning, in that film, and in Surrogates, plays a parallel role as Canter, the creator of the surrogates program. If you’ve seen iRobot, you’ll readily identify the primary themes running through the film, making Surrogates seem almost a copy itself.