Monday, March 08, 2010

Review: Surrogates DVD


Surrogates DVD

Bruce Willis Radha Mitchell Rosamund Pike Boris Kodjoe Jack Noseworthy James Cromwell Ving Rhames


Surrogates must seem like I am on a theme kick here. Here I am viewing a movie where a person need not ever leave their home. If you like you can take over some one else's body as in Gamer or through a data link consisting of sensors and other vr you can send out a Surrogate as in the movie of the same name. Here we have a much better realized science fiction theme with users becoming more and more insulated and withdrawn from the world that when a new tech comes along to help the severely handicapped lead "productive" lives, Surrogates tech is co-opted for use in the general public.

When users start dying, it is up to Bruce Willis' character to discover the cause. Yep, Bruce Willis fans rejoice, Surrogates is just about custom made for Bruce.

Though the Surrogate tech may have shown up often, this version spins it is new directions. Even though I have often read stories where the characters have been VR for so long that they can not deal with being in the real, seeing the effect on the screen really brought it home.

Surrogates is nothing if not a truly convoluted murder mystery. Convoluted in a way only the surrogate tech can twist it. You got to love that! Plenty of slick action for those addicted to the high energy special theme spun only the way the Surrogate tech can.

The ending is predictable but not so bad that you feel like you have been cheated, and of course what could make the movie hard to follow is the fact that you are never sure who is who.

As for the special features on this DVD one word - anemic. Now maybe the blu-ray has something more to offer but the DVD version only has a director's comments that is unless you consider trailers for other movies and audio setup "extra" features. I don't. But the director's comments are good, maybe not as much fun as Gamers but as far as tecnique and vision it was really good.

I would take off a point for some predictable elements, but the twist at the end pulls it up the lack of features that the director himself mentions irks me.

So, if your looking to this movie as a fast action shoot em up like it was promoted, your going to be a bit underwhelmed. The movie does require you to pay attention and does have some twists to think about.

So, over all, 8.5 rental you won't feel gypped and even if you're adding this to your library, I think it is worthy.

No comments: