DVD Review: Surrogates

This Tuesday, Surrogates featuring Bruce Willis comes out on DVD & Blu-ray. It packs quite the punch action wise…story wise, not so much. Keep reading for the details.

How do you save humanity when the only thing that’s real is you?

From the director of Terminator 3 comes a jaw-dropping psychological thriller starring the ultimate action hero, Bruce Willis. In the not-so-distant future, where people experience life through perfect surrogates controlled from the safety of their own homes, murder is a thing of the past. But when a college student linked to the creator of these replicants is killed, one FBI agent must re-enter reality and risk his life to unravel the mystery. In the battle of technology versus humanity, who can you trust? Experience every electrifying moment of this mind-blowing movie. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel and exploding with unforgettable action, Surrogates is nonstop entertainment from start to finish!

Surrogates can be described as a psychological sci fi action thriller and yet after watching it, there is so little of all of the above, with the exception of action that it seemed to touch the surface of the depth this film could have had. The idea though not original is still entertaining and thought-provoking however the execution fell somewhat flat. The film was not nearly as exciting as viewers may expect it to be and its many plots tying in together might confuse viewers instead of intrigue them. The idea of losing our true selves and living without flaws and faults laid on us by society thanks to our perfect surrogates who we live our lives through seems enticing.

We find out soon enough that all that glitters…though the message that this film means to send could have been much stronger. There are also more unanswered questions than ever which makes me slightly tempted to read the graphic novel that this is based on to see what pieces are missing. It doesn’t stop there with just the story, as the characters are very interesting but the film is so short that there is not nearly enough time to feel truly invested in and devoted to any of them except Tom Greer (Bruce Willis). Surrogates seems more like a decent start to an incredible franchise of films though it is not so on its own it will have to do simply as a decent film that had so much potential.

Bonus Features:

“I Will Not Bow” Music Video by Breaking Benjamin – The music video tells the entire film of Surrogates in just a few short minutes and the lyrics to this song are phenomenal. Can’t say if this song was written specifically for this film, but it sure seems like it. What a well directed and edited music video and the song is beautiful! Quite thought provoking and inspirational.

Commentary – The commentary was conducted by Director, Jonathan Mostow who immediately lets viewers know that this film is an adaptation of a graphic novel and then begins to discuss the challenges of adapting the film and the narrative structure for the film. What I fount to be interesting was that he talked about how people can see the film as portrayed in present day (somewhat the near future) Boston or in an alternate reality. There is so much discussed in every minute of the commentary…Mostow does a wonderful job at giving an abundant amount of insight into the film making and storytelling. You will not be disappointed after watching this commentary.

Own Surrogates on DVD & Blu-ray January 26, 2010.