Surrogates - Mein zweites Ich

Ein Film, der teilweise wie ein B-Movie wirkt und ein großes Budget hatte. Eine interessante Idee, die eine treffende Allegorie des künstlichen Charakters der gegenwärtigen Peroxid-Shopping-Kultur ist. Der Film hätte aber einen ehrgeizigeren Drehbuchautor gebraucht. So ist es nur ein Action-Häppchen, das dank Bruce Willis verkauft wird. In dem Film findet man Motive, die man aus Children of Men kennt ("Leute mit Dreadlocks", die am Rande der Gesellschaft leben). Er bietet eine attraktive visuelle High-Tech-Seite wie Proyas’ I, Robot und möchte todernst wie Spielbergs Minority Report wirken. Aber im Unterschied zu diesen Filmen hat er sich nicht getraut, einen Schritt in seine eigene Richtung zu machen. Stattdessen arbeitet er mit bewährten Wendungen. Er möchte intelligent wirken, ist aber zu kompliziert. In mindestens einer (finalen) Szene ist die Hilflosigkeit des Drehbuchs fast lächerlich. Ich weiß nicht so richtig, was ich über die Figur des "Propheten" Ving Rhames denken soll. Bruce als einzige Verbindung der Zuschauer*innen mit der realen Welt der lebendigen Menschen ist OK; leider aber ohne Sprüche und Leichtigkeit. (15.09.2009)

If Mostow has been considered a solid craftsman up to now, he will now be considered a desperate routinist... and a thief to boot. As long as it still follows the popcorn rules à la I, Robot, we can enjoy the slightly B-movie atmosphere, which is carried by Willis's cynical smile and funny toupee. Then we get some mentoring according to Issac Asimov and Phillip K. Dick in the visual diction of Terminator 3 and everything goes to hell. It wouldn't have had to be this way if someone had bothered to add some extra runtime, given the characters some life, and if the film had at least one memorable scene. The result is the most ridiculous blockbuster of the year, which I predict will become a cult film in a few years and a must-have in the "guilty pleasure" collectors' kit. (23.10.2009)

The square root of film adaptations of Phillip K. Dick, both the good and the bad ones. A generic and stupid sci-fi B-movie with a not stupid idea that the right hands could be the base of a new Blade Runner. In the end, it’s actually like Total Recall, but without the action. (05.10.2009)

Bruce gave himself a nice old bit of action, but so why not, it didn't look awkward at all... only the hairpiece in the robo-creature was really funny... :-D I think it's a shame that the movie got such a low rating, I don't think it deserves it, but I get it. It's such a tired, long-winded, bland and flavorless film, even though it's only 88 minutes long. Which is a pity. For such a rip-off... ;-)) [SPOILER] And once again, everyone survived, and once again, Bruce was so awesome, brilliant and moral; coincidentally, the idea of wiping out 98% of the human population isn't so bad... X-D (24.10.2009)

I like positive sci-fi and because the genre has received a nice beating from fantasy in the last two decades, and pure sci-fi films are currently quite rare. I should thus appreciate any film not teeming with wizards, elves, dragons, or mythical powers. Unfortunately, a lot more is needed for a quality experience and one of the fundamental things I insist on is for the fantastic world to be logical and fully functional within its system. Unfortunately, Surrogates completely fails in this regard. Practically the whole film submits to the superficial spectacle with slick visuals, top-notch special effects, a star-studded cast, and an overall bombastic production. However, the screenplay is full of holes and I would have to completely turn off my brain for this spectacle to become bearable for me. Some films only take a part of their source material and forfeit deeper meaning, but if they function within their invented world, I have no major objections to a popcorn spectacle. But Mostow's world is built on nonsense. It is simply subservient to us watching flashy chases ending with a helicopter crash or robot surrogates jumping from one car to another. It is even more disappointing considering the involvement of several excellent actors and the wasted budget. Overall impression: 25%. (30.04.2010)

It would probably have been better if they hadn’t given away almost the whole movie in the first clip, but in any case I reasonably enjoyed myself. Some of it is seriously gourmet style (yep, the chase with the one-armed Bruce), but most of it was more like marzipan on an over-sweet cake. The story is clearly not fully thought through, even though I’m ready to believe that as a comic book it was at least 50% better. Also, I didn’t much like Mostow’s plastic vision. Did they all really have to look THAT artificial? (12.12.2009)

A proper fiasco. Bruce Willis is clearly bored and wasting his time on unsuccessful and rip-off sci-fi flicks. Jonathan Mostow completely failed, Rosamund Pike’s breasts are three sizes larger than her standard, which sticks out like a sore thumb on Surrogates, and overall, this colourful and non-contact fairy tale is just golden tinsel that hardly earned its keep. I recommend avoiding it completely. (25.02.2010)

Ein Film, der eindeutig überdurchschnittlich ist. Bruce Willis und Jonathan Mostow haben das Publikum nicht enttäuscht. Sie haben einen hochwertigen Sommerfilm gedreht, der aber erst im Herbst in die Kinos kam. Na ja. Surrogates - Mein zweites Ich ist angenehm schnell vergangen, die 90 Minuten waren gleich vorbei. Der Film hat seinen Schwung nicht verloren, alles war übersichtlich und visuell schön. Die Actionszenen und Effekte sind perfekt, die Schauspieler*innen auch. In dem Film gibt es nichts Philosophisches, es ist kein "nächster Matrix oder I, Robot". Es handelt sich um einen unterhaltsamen Streifen, der auch ein bisschen zum Nachdenken anregt. (16.10.2009)