Surrogates

Surrogates didn't get much traction at the box office last year, but I kinda liked it. At some point in the future, robotic technology has been developed that allows robots to appear and function as humans. The difference here is the the robots do not have any innate "intelligence" (a la Terminator). Instead, they are on a monster wi-fi network and each robot is connected to the brain of their controller, a real human. In effect, most people on earth sit in chairs in their houses and their surrogates travel the world. While originally developed to provide life improvement for disabled folks, the surrogate phenomenon became a way to avoid any disease or danger, as well as a way to travel far and try new things (just rent a scuba surrogate in Hawaii and you experience the vacation - sort of). Of course, every surrogate looks great and some have special powers (police can run fast to chase the villains, etc.). And of course, there is an opposition (The Dreads) who advocate living as a human who walks around on earth instead of sitting indoors safely. A weapon is developed that could kill lots of people through the infallible surrogate safeguards (I, Robot anyone?) and Bruce Willis must save the day. This is a basic action film, no super-duper CGI, but enough simple touches (like the appearance enhancement shop) to be a fun look at this possible future. So far, this was better than any of the summer diversions in theaters this year.
3-stars (out of 5)