Bruce Willis in sci-fi thriller Surrogates

17 February 2009

John Howell

Bruce Willis ventures into science fiction and fantasy territory once more with Surrogates , a movie based on the graphic novel of the same name by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldelle.

According to ComingSoon.Net, two FBI agents, Agent Greer (Bruce Willis) and Agent Peters (Radha Mitchell), investigate the murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create the "surrogate phenomenon" that allows people to purchase robotic versions of themselves. The robots are idealised versions of the people they mimic, and allow anyone to live their lives vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own home. You could send your surrogate to a party to talk to friends or dance and drink, for instance, without ever having to get up from your chair and do it for real. The student's murder leads the FBI agents to question what's real and who they can trust.

Geeks of Doom reports that the cast also includes Ving Rhames as The Prophet, a cult figure who hates surrogates and plans an uprising, and Rosamund Pike as Maggie Greer, Bruce Willis's wife.

Michael Ferris and John Brancato have adapted the graphic novel for the big screen, while the movie will be released through Touchstone.

At first glance Surrogates appears to have a similar theme to James Cameron's upcoming 3D science fiction epic Avatar . Both Surrogates and Avatar deal with virtual reality. In Avatar humans can only survive on an alien planet by projecting their consciousness into genetically engineered bodies (Avatars).

From what I've read so far, I have mixed feelings about the movie. On the plus side, Bruce Willis is an actor who has starred and excelled in some excellent sci-fi and fantasy movies over the past 20 years, from M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense , to the more pulpish, but memorable The Fifth Element . Unfortunately though, Surrogates is also directed by Jonathan Mostow, the director responsible for the weakest and totally forgettable third Terminator movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines .

Let's hope the new movie is nothing like Terminator 3.

Touchstone recently released an intriguing viral Surrogates website. Essentially it’s a website for the fictional company, Virtual Self Industries, that creates surrogates in the movie. Create your own virtual reality surrogate here.

Surrogates is out 25 September 2009.

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