DVD reviews: Surrogates

Timing is everything. Surrogates appeared in US theatres last year but the DVD is only coming out here now. That’s unfortunate, because the big ‘wow, isn’t that clever’ bit of Surrogates is that humans have developed personal robots; while your body is at home in bed, your avatar – sorry, we mean your surrogate – is out living the life you always dreamt for yourself. See the problem Surrogates faces?

It doesn’t really do itself any favours in the comparison stakes. The thin plot runs head first into the welcoming arms of cliché when grizzled cop with a past Bruce Willis abandons his surrogate to, like, feel real again, man, and uncover who’s behind a series of murders. And yes, his maverick ways do get him suspended from the force.

Despite the robots and plenty of (fairly average) CGI, the movie soon morphs into a straightforward whodunnit. It’s either the military industrial complex or an evil genius, of course, but by the end you’ll have ceased to care.

FORMAT: DVD

FROM: Sony

SOUND: 3.5

VISION: 3.5

MOVIE: 2

The meagre bonuses comprise an audio commentary and a music video by the band Breaking Benjamin – no, we’ve never heard of them either. RB