Page 6 Arts & Life The Clarion | Oct. 2, 2009 Film Review: ‘Surrogates’ deserves a replacement by Zachary Drucker well essentially reprises the stale role of the her surrogate. Tufts Daily robot inventor, Dr. Alfred Lanning, that he Neither Willis nor Mitchell does Mostow U-Wire Content portrayed in “I, Robot.”) Finally, the fi lm any favors, as Willis proves unable to earn openly contradicts itself: It defi nes surro- the audience’s sympathy through a passion- gates as only responding to the DNA and less, robotic performance that rivals the Let’s try a simple exercise: Rack your neurotransmitters of their specifi c owners, emotionless of themselves. brain and try to remember watching “The but it then allows foreign human operators Not even Willis’ sandy-blonde locks and Matrix” (1999) and “I, Robot” (2004). to occupy others’ surrogates. “Benjamin Button” anti-aging cream can Now, slowly strip away all the riveting With a running time of only 88 minutes, help him salvage his deteriorating acting and aesthetic scenes of these two fi lms and “Surrogates” does not have nearly enough skills. Similarly, Mitchell provides a forget- voila! You have basically seen ’ action to sate the thirsts of the average table portrayal as Willis’ partner surrogate, latest fi lm, “Surrogates.” moviegoer. Aside from one scene in which which becomes occupied by several differ- “Surrogates” attempts to creatively a one-armed, gun-toting Greer surrogate ent human operators throughout the fi lm. critique society’s reliance on technology chases after a meatbag suspect, the fi lm Perhaps the most heinous crime com- but succumbs to numerous plot gaps and is virtually devoid of explosions, crashes, mitted by “Surrogates” is that it squanders abysmal acting. combat and the like. Compound that lack the opportunity to exploit a dreadlocked Director ’s latest sci-fi of action with all-around substandard act- Ving Rhames as The Prophet. In his fi rst thriller follows agents Greer (Bruce Willis) ing, and audience members will question collaboration with Willis since “Pulp Fic- and Peters (), two detectives whether the fi lm is a lackluster thriller or a tion” (1994), Rhames is only featured in on the hunt for the murderer of two people depressing comedy. several scenes and is wholly underutilized. and their “surrogates,” manufactured by In his fi rst fi lm since 2003’s “Terminator Despite several unexpected plot twists, Virtual Self, Inc. (VSI). Based on the epon- 3: Rise of the Machines,” Mostow fritters the movie is hackneyed and uninspiring, ymous comic book series created by Robert away a seemingly interesting plot and the falling well short of most preceding comic Venditti and Brett Weldele, “Surrogates” promise of a comic book fan base by resort- book adaptations. “Surrogates” leaves the takes place in a near future in which civil- ing to clichés in a fatal effort movie industry aching for more innovative ians ditch their unappealing, actual images to please audiences. His protagonist, Greer, science-fi ction thrillers like the recent “Dis- for perfect, durable surrogate bodies. These mourns a dead son who was killed in the trict 9” (2009) and makes viewers wonder surrogates, highly technological robots that age before surrogates and has a depressed how much longer Willis can be typecast as humans can control with their minds, allow and distant wife who is overly attached to the macho, stoic action hero. people to sit at home and avoid the dangers of the everyday world. The Clarion Greer and Peters’ search leads them to the discovery of a weapon that can kill sur- Senior Staff rogates and their operators by bypassing a failsafe system and literally “frying” human Editor in Chief: Travis Wireback Managing Editor: John Climer brains. Ditching his surrogate, Greer takes to the streets as a “meatbag” to infi ltrate the News Editor: Open Copy Editor: Open Dreads’ society: a quarantined, autonomous Business Editor: Open Layout & Design: Travis Wireback Opinion Editor: Open city where humans who denounce the use of Photo Editor: Marc Newton Arts & Life Editor: Open Business Manager: Emily Clark surrogates reside. Greer’s search leads him Sports Editor: Open Faculty Advisor: John B. Padgett to implicate The Prophet (Ving Rhames), the leader of the Dreads. But with most Other Staff people donning an alternate identity, the murderer could be anyone. Karam Boeshaar Nina Willis Thomas Lide Dabney Farmer Anne Bolos Christopher Shirey The fi lm’s plot is plagued by inexplica- Richard Bush ble holes that leave the audience members disoriented and confused. Plus, the idea of surrogates assumes that most human be- Unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of the staff of The Clarion. Other opinions expressed on this page are ings are acne-ridden hypochondriacs who those of respective authors and do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of the faculty, staff or administration of Brevard would rather lie at home in pajamas than College. experience life fi rsthand. The fi lm also never confronts the reasons  Letters Policy for VSI’s dismissal of Dr. Lionel Canter The Clarion welcomes letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and content. All letters intended for publication must be signed. (), the original creator of All correspondence should be mailed to: surrogates. (As a side note, James Crom- The Clarion, Brevard College, One Brevard College Drive, Brevard, NC 28712