Surrogates

It feels as if 'Surrogates' should have been a summer tentpole, it has the scope, the leading man and plenty of action. It also posesses a story that may be the most original of its kind especially with how familiar this kind of movie feels. At times it is like we are watching a thriller made in the mid 90's and other times its as if we are seeing the eigth 'Die Hard' film in which McClane tackles the 'I, Robot' world. It has many of the same themes and ideas of that film, but the extra layer of story that deals with actual people not interacting with one another and how much these surrogates take away from living one's own life and the relationships we develop is something that could have been taken further and explored in more detail. 'Surrogates' seems only to hint at all this, it is there and we are aware this is Willis' motivation for shutting down the surrogates as well as solving the crime, but in the end the film feels like a pilot for a series. At an hour and a half, it feels like it takes its time setting everything set-up and nicely layering in a few of the clues that lead to a quick and easy resolution. The tension doesnt build as it should and the story is cut off too quickly to really allow the audience to get into what is going on. James Cromwell serves as a credible piece of the film while Ving Rhames is laughable as 'The Prophet'. Willis does his thing and it's all good, the effects look a bit cheap at times, but we understand and sincerely hope that we see these characters again, beacuse this really is an interesting world and concept, but we were taken out of it as soon as we were just getting into it. Such a shame. I really wanted to love the film after the first half hour.