Anyway, Agent Greer, with partner, Agent Peters (the slowly more commonly seen Australian actress Radha Mitchell), are investigating a homicide. A mysterious young man has been seen killing two surrogates. Not only has he killed the surrogates, but the owners sitting in the comfort of their own home have also been killed. Even in this crazy future, that is deemed impossible, yet somebody SOMEWHERE has developed a futuristic plasma type weapon that acheives such a result. One of the surrogates was being used by the son of the inventor of the surrogates, Older Canter (James Cromwell - why does this guy ALWAYS play the inventor of a fucking robot?). It's a classic scene where his surrogate is killed, as he is two pink lips away from fucking a blonde chick on the street when he kicks the bucket. The funny thing is, as it works in our current time of avatars and online personas, the blonde chick was actually being used by an extremely overweight, hair 50 year old man. Ohwwwww! DUDE! You kissed a guy! Ewwww and now you're DEAD! Ech.

A major law has been broken and all punches are pulled to track down this weapon and it's inventor before it's too late. In the process of chasing the killer Bruce finds himself trapped in a region of the city that is inhabited only by humans. Some humans have insisted on not adapting to the surrogates which has caused them to become outsiders of the community. They dwell in poorer areas and are looked at by "society" as dead beats and criminals **Please refer to black people in America. I must commend Ving Rhames for a hilariously cheesy performance as the dreadlocked leader of the human resistance. The humans pretty much destroy surrogate Bruce and his replacement surrogate is a long way away. This means he will now have to roam the streets of surrogate America with his actual body, something that not only shocks people, but also causes them to have concern for his health. It's not safe to actually risk your life driving a car anymore, didn't you know? Yes, I did. I live in Adelaide :) Bah-doom-tsss!

In the process of walking around, less attractive, less perfect and reeking of Bruce Willis, his relationship begins to break down. Bruce's wife, BLAH (BLAH), suffers a scar on her face and less than perfect looks. Her surrogate is a beautiful ROBOT in appearance, leading her to be addicted to all things fake, including her drug abusing friends. Yes, being humans, we have STILL found a way to get high. Which involves a paraphanalia type device that sends an eletrcial surge through the surrogate and obviously through to the users neural connections. Bruce urges his wife to leave her surrogate ways, but it frightens her. Slowly, as Bruce adapts to his non-surrogate existence, he comes to realise the world has defintely turned ass about face and things are pretty fucking messed up. Especially when he's flying through a busy pedestrian zone in his car, smashing into surrogates who only seem baffled, not afraid or hurt, as they stare at him through his windscreen while he's doing 100kph with them laying across the hood of his hybrid vehicle. So good!

A part I liked in particular is the ability for the users to log off at any time (although this does enduce QUITE a headache). Sure, there are public service surrogate parking chambers all about the city. But if you gotta get the fuck out of dodge right away, just pull your headset off and your surrogate will bow it's head in standby mode. For instance, B. Willy is arguing with his surrogate wife in her hair salon when she decides she has had enough and logs off. Bang! Head bows and she's gone. Remind you of a few MSN arguments anyone? hehe. This is what I love about this movie, I actually identify and relate to such a far fetched idea. Mixing in the use of currently technology screens and USB devices, I almost forgot I was even watching a movie set in the future!

Getting back to the story. Naturally, the government is involved somewhere down the line with the development of the weapon eg. all soldiers fighting in wars are now surrogates. As is the sole company behind the creation, mass production and distribution of the surrogates. As the movie unfolds so does a tangled web of lies, deceit, pain and corruption. It's all standard fare thriller/action/sci-fi shit. To say anything wouldn't exactly ruin it, but surprises are always nice hey gang :) Just like on Christmas Day with the pressies. Awwwww... Although I must say the final scene is not your common ending for a sci-fi film, in that the technology is indeed rejected as humanity is finally appreciated for all it's imperfections, chaos and other fluffier shit we try to pretend humanity really is.

But in all seriousness, this movie isn't your average every day sci-fi/action film. It makes you question the way the world is today and when the fuck it's all going to stop. In 2010, children know how to effectively use a computer by the age of 5. People walk around staring forward plugged into all their ridiculously priced and expensively maintained i-gadgets. Nobody talks on the bus now, we just look down at our glowing mini-screens, whether it be an i-phone/pod/pad or just the standard fare mobile phone/laptop. We NEED to be plugged into a machine at all times. It's fucking sad. This movie is so close to the mark as a social commentary on our current times and it's reliance on virtual existence and machinery that it's SCARY. On average, the regular World of Warcraft user spends 22.7 hours per week logged in. That's a whole day of their week spent on a virtual existence. Some people have even made it their jobs to sell shit via WoW. Second Life is even more regularly used. To this date an average figure of A BILLION hours of user time has been spent in Second Life. Second Life is a pixelated living, breathing community of people who have now exchanged an average figure of A BILLION US DOLLARS between them within that world. It has it's own fucking economy and larger companies are starting to move in for a slice of the pie. There is only one further step to make beyond the virtual online world and Surrogates represents that step flawlessly.

We're living in a day and age where ANYTHING is sellable. Imagine the marketing campaigns:

Tired of those love handles? Crows feet won't stop cawing? Well come on down to Surrogates R Us where we can supply you with the dream body and face to boot! Right now we have 50% off look alike models and if you play your cards right, you can throw in a new set of hooters for your wife too!

I bet people who thought "Wow, it's such a superficial world!" back in the 80s, must be literally rolling (on skates hehe) in their denim jackets right now. Superficiality seems to grow and breed. People are becoming more and more shallow, money matters more and more, compassion dies and technology reigns. With so much value on cosmetic and material quality, how is the future Surrogates projects not an eventual reality?

CHECK THIS LINK OUT.

This was just a quick, more immediate search response. If you trawl through the list of related YouTube videos you will find better examples of life like androids that are popping up more and more regularly. They have less attractive models that are capable of travelling on their own, lifting things, manipulating objects. It's only a matter of time until the two combine and the surrogate robots are technically a reality.