Surrogates - B-

On DVD and Blu-ray

In the near future, most humans never leave their homes and experience the world by sending out "surrogates" whom they control through a neurotransmitter headset. When the first murders in years are committed, FBI agents Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) are sent to investigate. One of the victims is the son of the "surrogate" creator (James Cromwell), who only invented the technology so he could help paraplegics and shut-ins experience the world. Meanwhile, Greer and his wife (Rosamund Pike) struggle to find any connection at all after the death of their son . . .

The story is well-paced, perhaps a little too fast, with the twists coming at a breakneck pace - you don't have time to absorb it or think about the philosophical implications of an increasingly distracted and distant populace. This also shortchanges the emotional impact: Since we've never seen the married couple in happier times, we're not appropriately devastated by their experience, even though Willis and Pike are still quite effective. Since we only see Mitchell's surrogate, she comes off as stiff, when she has been anything but in most everything else. The surrogates are too formal to be interesting and it's only the actual humans that come alive on the screen (obviously part of the point).

Unlike Avatar (where the "avatars" should have been decomposing immediately when they are left alone), robots are used in Surrogates. Shining light on society's increasing separation and isolation is important but the obvious message of the need for close human interaction could have been developed more. The action scenes (director Jonathan Mostow's strong suit) are well done, and the special effects are fine, if not groundbreaking. If only they could have spent more time with the characters and developed the story and the setting a little more. The whole thing seems rushed to get to the closing credits. 84 minutes pre-credits. B-