Review of Surrogates

Bruce Willis from the past 5 years has become more ubiquitous than Agent Coulson. Almost all of his films are watchable but he always almost hampers his characters - and the pace of the film - down by his trollish performances that give off airs as if he is completely bored by the project. Here's a friendly tip: try and watch as many sci-fi / action movies from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's as possible. Throw in a couple of Willis films in there, too. After when you've achieved that, watch The Surrogates and if you see tons of resemblances to previous sci-fi movies, don't be surprised. The setup, the story, the action, the theme is all been there, done that. In this endless explosions-era, dramatic and story driven sci-fi's are few and far in-between. Not to say I didn't fully enjoy this film, it just stuck out as a sore thumb amidst all the mindless ones. Had this film been released in the last decade, or the decade before that, it might've received some love or appreciation in the now-years, but seeing that it is virtually a rehash of previous films, The Surrogates will become a distant memory in the upcoming years. However, it is not entirely a bad film, it's just not too developed, nor too dramatic. I enjoyed the stylish look to it, the allegorical allusions to our real world, and quite bleak presentation, a doomed atmosphere, if you will. But in the end you will have accepted the fact that it was nothing too extraordinary. Heck, even I Am Legend and I, Robot were better,

Performance-wise, Bruce Willis was quite decent in his role as Agent Greer, but due to a limping script and under-development of the character, it is one of his forgettable roles. At times, honestly, it felt like a Rick Deckard clone, with near zero depth. But it was a decent, OK performance nonetheless. Radha Mitchell, on the other hand, was delicious in her role as Agent Peters. She's one of my favourite as I enjoy seeing her on-screen and even though she was nothing too exceptional here, she provided a delicious presence. I also enjoyed the chemistry between her and Willis as it had some depth. Rosamund Pike was just tasty and absolutely nothing much. Honestly, her character was the most under-developed from the film. Ving Rhames plays The Prophet, a character I have a complaint about. For the majority of his screentime, he holds his hand upwards, chest level, similar to how Muslims do while they're praying. It could be just me but I didn't like that at all. The rest of the cast were quite good, nothing too memorable.

In conclusion, The Surrogates is a pretty decent film, but could've done a lot more had it had strong character development and a much deeper story.

6.5/10