Surrogates (C)
(PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, violence, disturbing images, some drugs): Not as noisy as "Pandorum," nor as subtle in approach to the sci-fi fantasy situation, yet another fascinating idea gone awry, in this case when it goes too Hollywood in treatment.
Imagine a world in which everyone, not just Stepford wives, are the focus of attention. In this case, it's less a transitional device than the option of purchasing a handsome look-alike that goes out into the world to do everything for the owner, who stays at home in comparative ease to vicariously enjoy the fruits of pleasures without consequences. Then imagine an FBI agent (Bruce Willis in glossy tinted skin and a shock of wavy light brown hair), who gets "killed" then returns as his natural self, though he is still capable of being maimed, brutally beaten up, cut up, smashed into & dropped from heights only to bound back the way any good Bruce Willis character should.
Imagine a world in which everyone, not just Stepford wives, are the focus of attention. In this case, it's less a transitional device than the option of purchasing a handsome look-alike that goes out into the world to do everything for the owner, who stays at home in comparative ease to vicariously enjoy the fruits of pleasures without consequences. Then imagine an FBI agent (Bruce Willis in glossy tinted skin and a shock of wavy light brown hair), who gets "killed" then returns as his natural self, though he is still capable of being maimed, brutally beaten up, cut up, smashed into & dropped from heights only to bound back the way any good Bruce Willis character should.
Richard Marvin's music is less jarring than that in "Pandorum," but appropriate in keeping with Michael Ferris' & John Brancato's sometimes novel, more often traditional, script. Jonathan Mostow directs as if pianissimo doesn't exist. In typical Hollywood action flick style, he subverts the cleverness of the concept with plenty of lengthy street chases, vehicles smashing, banging, hurtling, overturning until one simply closes eyes & waits for the next coda.
There are clichés, of course; the format follows the genre well - big guy on top who controls everything below, dirty politics behind closed doors, a band of humans fighting to regain society from the surrogates, the fascination in watching green slime ooze from the dying surrogates, and through all this, the FBI guy mourning the loss of a kid & missing his hypochondriac wife, etc. The real talent lies in the make-up artists responsible for creating the spooky, glossy almost real faces & then contrasting them at one time or another with the less beautiful, real faces. As for the rest - well, for 90-minutes, it's bearable entertainment. Too bad, Mostow; coulda been a contender (Grade: C)
