Surrogates - a very pleasant action movie
{FILM DIARY}
Surrogates (USA, 2009)
Seen: Friday, 30th October 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 88′
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Cast: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell
Production House: Touchstone Pictures, Mandeville Films, Lanoue Film Arts, Road Rebel, Top Shelf Productions, Wintergreen Productions
Plot: (from imdb)
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.
Trailer
Impressions In Short
It was a very enjoyable action/sci-fi flick. I forgot I liked Bruce Willis so much *grin*
More About the Film
The nice thing about the film is that it has a very coherent plot and even a bit of a message - not often the case with action films. In fact I don’t even remember any kind of very prolonged action sequence - all of the action scenes served a purpose in the plot and didn’t seem unnecessarily lengthened to give special effect fans a treat (which for me is great as I don’t get that sort of thing at all ;)).
It was also a very tricky film in terms of making the characters work. Through the acting and make-up they managed to make the difference between humans and surrogates obvious at first glance - it was wonderful *grin* It got even more tricky when different characters would use the same surrogate, but it was still beautifully pulled off.
An amusing “side effect” of having to differentiate between surrogates and people was that it was probably the most naturalistic portrayal of people I’ve seen in a Hollywood action film. At the end of the film they actually went as far as to show a young woman with no fancy make-up on, somewhat greasy looking hair, no lighting that would make her look more attractive etc. And the most awesome thing about that scene was that the man wanted her like that. He’d had enough of her surrogate, he wanted the real her - that’s how she was most beautiful to him.
It was a bit symptomatic of Hollywood’s idea of women that they were pairing Bruce Willis (who is in his 50s now) with an actress in her late 20s, but I guess you can’t have everything. Maybe Hollywood will stop freaking out at the thought of having a heroine in her 40s or 50s in time.
The whole cast was very stellar and they really had a lot to juggle. Bruce Willis was wonderful - haven’t seen a film with him in a long while and I enjoyed him immensely. In a way he was the perfect action hero to cast in this because there’s always been something very human and warm about him. He has lots of instincts, which are rather unusual for an action hero. A moment that particularly stuck in my mind is the final culmination scene between him and James Cromwell. It’s one of those classic scenes where the hero is unarmed and is being threatened, but of course he doesn’t succumb and somehow gets the upper hand despite it all. What I adore about Bruce Willis is that when James Cromwell’s character orders him face down on the floor, there’s a moment of hesitation - like he really might do it. That’s what makes Bruce Willis so human and so much fun to watch. In the end he might do the invincible macho thing, but there are always those small, almost unnoticeable moments of awkwardness or hesitation - gotta love him for that *grin*
Recommended?
Yes, definitely. Though oddly enough, I think this might be a better movie for the people who don’t usually enjoy action flicks that much. Action fans might find this a bit lacking in terms of special effects and fight scenes (or at least I’ve seen a review on imdb by someone who felt that way). I mean the action sequences are there of course, but they just don’t play as a big a part in the film as in most of the Hollywood action films these days.
Bruce Willis fans should definitely see it - he’s adorable in this *grin*
