Surrogates MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: +1/2

Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames. Written by Michael Ferris, John Brancato. Directed by Jonathan Mostow.

FILM SYNOPSIS: People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates – sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves.  It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don’t exist.  When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer (BRUCE WILLIS) discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

PREVIEW REVIEW: I suppose there’s a moral, but the muddled storyline disguised it beyond all recognition, at least for me. That said, the film seemed to involve the audience. There was even a bit of applause during the final credits. Great effects and the surrogates for the real actors are amazing. I’m not sure of how the effects and makeup people were able to de-age Bruce Willis. He looks twenty five years younger in those scenes, though a bit plastic. There’s lots of action, including shootings of the ipod people, beatings, car chases and general mayhem. What’s missing? The Willis smirk. It’s humorless. Everyone is very somber. It’s as if President Obama’s new society had finally come into being and suddenly everybody realized it.

DVD Alternative: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the 1956 version with Kevin McCarthy – pass on the dumbed-down and obscenity-laced 1978 remake). If you’re looking for truly unnerving, armchair-grabbing sci-fi, this is the one. An entire town is systematically replaced by pod people. Only one man knows the truth. But no one will believe him – until it’s too late.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures