I know this will shock some of you, I know some of you will fear it... but I want you to brace.. and be ready... are you with me?

Mostow, Brancato, and Ferris made a damn fine movie.

There, I said it, you can drag me out into the street and beat me if you like . But for once, they took an existing concept, elevated it, made it even more interesting than the comic, and then put their own spin on the ending. It was very interesting, and I think speaks to a lot of our society's flaws. It was a fascinating, if non-realistic, glimpse into one possible evolution of the online society we live in.

Surrogates, for those of you who don't know, is about the rise of a technology in the world that allows people to be replaced. The first 5 minutes of the movie where a montage covers how society changed before 2029. Back in 2012 or so, a technology was created to allow humans to mentally manipulate robots using only a neural interface. Originally, this was developed for the disabled and handicapped to go out and interact with the world. The designer of the machines was, himself, wheelchair-bound and barely able to move, but his mind was razor sharp, and he created a machine that could go out for him. He began to incorporate sight, smell, sound, and tactile sensation into the unit and made it incredibly realistic. From there, his company realized that there was profit to be made here from a broader range of users - first from the military, mass-manufacturing "G.I. Joe's", as they were called in the flick, then to police and finally from the consumer market - and once Surrogates were cheap to mass produce, the public ate it up.

And that's where it began - when Surrogates became affordable to the public, they began to be widely distributed. 95% of the American populace used Surrogates. People could look as beautiful or strange as they felt like, and never be in any danger. Violent crime dropped like a stone, sex became more common, and society became a bit hedonistic. But a few human beings had pulled back, resisting the veneer of shiny technology, and been moved to a reservation, for humans only. Men with metal detectors stand guard at all the entry points, and a priest-like figure called the Prophet, preaches about a day where the Surrogates will fall.

As we move into the proper, Bruce Willis' character finds out about a murder in his jurisdiction, the first one in a decade. But more importantly, the person being murdered was murdered inside his Surrogate, which was supposed to be impossible. Further, the man murdered was the son of the creator of the Surrogates. He'd been recently fired from his own company for "creative disagreements" with the corporation that manufactures Surrogates. Consumed with anger, he begins to investigate his son's murder through his own Surrogate.

Meanwhile, Willis' home life is falling apart as he investigates the case. His wife never unplugs from her machine since the death of their son in a car accident. She's afraid to face her now-scarred face, and she's in a lot of pain judging by the pharmucopea on her nightstand. He can't stand to see her like this, trapped behind her robot, but she won't come out. So he continues to work the case, only to find out that the weapon used to kill these Surrogates couldn't possibly exist, because the military and the corporation both deny that they would build a weapon that would disable their own armies.

I won't spoil anything further, but suffice it to say, there's more going on behind the scenes than Bruce realizes at first, and he continues trying to find the truth while trying to reconnect with his wife.

This movie was startlingly well made. It addresses nearly all the pitfalls of a society that's so virtualized. Sex only happens between beautiful people now, and usually only between two Surrogates - though no concern is brought up that procreation would probably stop inside of two or three generations of this nonsense, you sense that the human race isn't willing to think that far ahead. Also, there's a very subtle, but well-played undercurrent of fear throughout this movie - people are afraid to go outside. But did this fear spring from the Surrogates, or were the machines a symptom of an already existing disease - paranoia?

There was one scene in particular where they played up the fear Bruce first had when he stepped out of his Surrogate body, and approached the city in the flesh, where he was scared for his life wherever he went. The movie silently asks if we're all this afraid? Not just of car accidents and muggings, but terrorists. This film very much felt like it never would have been made if not for 9/11 - people scared for their lives, living virtual lives, and becoming hedonistic and selfish. There's even a brutal scene where Bruce snaps and beats the tar out of a Surrogate while the controller laughs at him insanely, like he's enjoying it.

The movie plays up that pain is a part of life, that risk makes life worth living, and I happen to agree with that - but it also makes a very strong case for Surrogacy as well. It's a complicated issue, and it inspires thought, a lot of thought. Where does one draw the line with taking 'reasonable' risks? Some people are deathly afraid of rejection, so they never ask anyone out, and are thus always rejected in their minds. Some people are afraid of car accidents, and get terrified whenever they're in a car, etc. How different would society be if we never had to face our fears? How selfish and unkind would we become, running a robot replacement for ourselves and interacting with the world from our safe haven? Some people already do this on Internet chat boards and forums, and they're royal assholes because of it.

Yet what would it be like for a parent to know their child is safe? What would it be like to send robotic soldiers to defend our territories instead of losing our brave men and women on the front lines? Who wouldn't want to look different for a day and see what it was like to be a blonde, or a brunette, or even change their gender for one day?

My roommate and I got into an argument about this concept when we first read the graphic novel, but clearly, as with all concepts in humanity, the Surrogates would have to be used in moderation. It's okay to explore who you are for a day or a week, but when you hide behind it as Bruce's wife did, you become unhealthy, sheltered, and selfish.

But I may be getting off topic - it's good to have a movie make you think, but you also have to enjoy it for what it was, and I did, very much. To address the movie itself - the murder mystery and 'conspiracy' plotline are both well executed. Despite the fact Mostow couldn't build tension past the first act of Terminator 3, and Brancato and Ferris were clearly responsible for the worst parts of Salvation, I loved this film because it was tense, because it was twisty, because it was exciting and thrilling to watch. The mystery being solved led to a somehow predictable but also inherently interesting result. The plot between Bruce and his wife was enthralling to say the least. And the conclusion was satisfying, and made you think, coming out of the theater. This is an exciting, action packed thriller, and worth every penny I paid.

Now that that's said, I'd like to address the reviews for this movie for one second -

Were they even watching the same movie? SciFIWire said this movie was out of date, that it wasn't covering any new ground, and that it was a flat film. - I disagree, this film was nuanced and exciting and has never been more relevant than a society that lives so virtually. The L.A. times stated that the movie was glitz and glam with no suspense, mechanical - I suppose suspense is different for everyone, but this movie was exciting. The New York Times says that it didn't cover the fact that sexuality in this country was shallow. And they said that after the phenomenal film that was District 9, this movie simply lacked relevance and poignance. District 9....

Let me say something about District 9 while I have a moment - District 9 was a mediocre film, at best. Yes, you heard it from my lips, and I challenge all of you to think about why you liked it so much. Because it was done in the style of a documentary? So was Blair Witch and most of Cloverfield - that's not an original filming style, folks. Because it was so realistic? Not really - trust me when I say this, if the U.N. knew there was a GIANT SPACESHIP hovering directly over any country, they'd strip that son of a bitch down for technology faster than a Maserati in Queens, and you'd better believe it. As soon as they found it abandoned, they would have towed it to a research facility if such a thing was possible, and if not, they'd stripped out every component they could, or worse, nuked it if they couldn't. We live in a paranoid age. And the whole "our bio-goo engine turns you into an alien" thing was also grossly unrealistic. Because it was original? This is the one I hear the most often - how exactly is this movie ragingly original? Because it wasn't based off a book, comic, or movie? Sure. But that doesn't make something GOOD. District 9 was plodding, slow, its protagonist was a dillweed of epic proportions, and it showed the basal worst of humanity over and over and over again. Sci-Fi movies are supposed to be enjoyable, while also forcing you to think, and District 9 failed on every conceivable level to achieve 'fun' until the last act. And what exactly was it making you think about? The only 'point'i could derive from that movie is humans are jackals and sometimes aliens, especially little chibi aliens, are way cooler than we are. The sequences where the african traders were portrayed as vicious bastards were surpassed only by the sequences where the government performed lethal tests on the aliens and on the protagonist. If I wanted to see the basal worst of humanity, I'd watch the news.

The Surrogates was not dated, it was not flat, and it was not 'bleh'. it was a very right-now movie about how dangerous it is for all of us to live sheltered and afraid, it was about life being about risk and sacrifice. It's never been more relevant than now, doubly so after 9/11. That combined with the fact it had a very enjoyable plot and real character development, may make it one of my favorite flicks of the year. See it, if you have the cash, and tell me what you think.

-Chris B.

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