Surrogates
Surrogates takes us into the future where although the automobiles have a 2009 streamline the drivers are definitely a throwback to a younger day. In this world crime and violence have gone the way of polio thanks to the technical expertise of a robotics company that provides everyone with a younger, more vivacious copy of themselves through which they can live vicariously from the comfort of a stylized lay-z-boy. Of course there are those who see these surrogates as an abomination and set themselves apart in “no machine” zones. One such Illinois ghetto is under the spell of a charismatic leader called The Prophet (Ving Rhames). Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) is a Chicago detective with personal baggage who is put in charge of the first homicide in living (?) memory. When his surrogate gets crucified (literally) chasing the number one suspect into no-machine-land the real Greer has to get off the couch and do some actual leg work that uncovers some very high up corruption. Surrogates is entertaining but not as much as it could be. The CGI that shaves 30 years off of Willis is interesting but as a mystery the secret is out within 45 minutes. There’s some cool action sequences here but the Terminator 3 director is stingy with them so action fans may want to substitute another movie for this one.