Surrogates

Directed by : Jonathan Mostow
Produced by : David Hoberman
Todd Lieberman
Max Handelman
Elizabeth Banks

Genre :
Action | Sci-Fi

Cast :
Bruce Willis as Agent Tom Greer
Radha Mitchell as Agent Jennifer Peters
Rosamund Pike as Maggie Greer
Ving Rhames as The Prophet
Boris Kodjoe as Andrew Stone
Jack Noseworthy as Miles Strickland
James Cromwell as Dr. Lionel Canter
Michael Cudlitz as Colonel Brendan
James Francis Ginty as Dr. Lionel Canter's younger surrogate
Helena Mattsson as JJ the Blonde
Meta Golding as the Female Counsel

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On its opening weekend, Surrogates grossed about $15 million, ranking #2 at the box office, behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. After being released for seven weeks in theaters worldwide the movie has made its $80 million production budget back, grossing just over $102.8 million with more openings still to come.

Plot
In 2017, humans live in near-total isolation, rarely leaving the safety and comfort of their homes, thanks to remotely-controlled robotic bodies that serve as "surrogates," designed as better-looking versions of their human operators. Because people are safe all the time, and damage done to a surrogate is not felt by its owner, it is a peaceful world free from fear, pain, and crime.

Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) is an FBI agent who, through the use of his own surrogate, investigates the first murder in years: Jarod Canter, a college student and the son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell), the original inventor of surrogates, who uses multiple surrogates himself. The case grows more complicated, however, when several police officers are murdered when their surrogates are destroyed, something which is not supposed to happen, as the human operator is normally safe from the damage done to his/her surrogate.

Greer's investigation leads him to the Dreads, a group of humans led by a mysterious man known only as The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who is against the use of surrogates. Greer and his partner Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell) determine that the identity of the murderer is a Dread named Miles Strickland. Strickland used a unique weapon called an O.D. (Overload Device) to kill Jarod as well as five police officers tracking him. Greer himself barely escapes death by the weapon. Although his surrogate is physically damaged, it is able to pursue Strickland before it is destroyed by the Dreads.

Suffering damages from the weapon, Greer is found in his apartment by his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike). She prefers interacting through her surrogate, even with her husband in the privacy of their home. We learn that the couple is particularly distant from each other as they grieve over their young son who died in a car accident. (We see that, from the brief scenes in the film including the real Maggie, she is severely depressed and simultaneously takes many medications.) Greer is taken to the hospital and survives, although he is suspended and will not be issued another surrogate while his actions are investigated.

At the Dread Reservation, Strickland is approached by The Prophet who demands information about the weapon. Strickland is apparently killed by The Prophet or his followers. When Greer goes into the Reservation, he stumbles upon Strickland's funeral and then approaches The Prophet, asking about the weapon Strickland used. As Greer leaves the Reservation, it is revealed that The Prophet has the weapon. Greer meets with Dr. Canter, again using one of his surrogates, who suggests the weapon was manufactured by the military. Greer meets with a member of the military and learns that the weapon sends a computer virus into the surrogates that shuts them down, but it also disables the fail-safe mechanisms which shield the operator from harm, thus killing them.

A mysterious surrogate goes to the home of Greer's partner Peters and kills her, then transfers control of her surrogate to an unknown party who uses it to go through the financial records of the FBI. The Peters surrogate learns that Andrew Stone (Boris Kodjoe), Peters and Greer's boss, is apparently behind the death of Jarod, having been assigned by the company that creates the surrogates to kill Dr. Canter which he in turn assigned to Strickland. Jarod was using one of his father's surrogates and as such was mistaken for him. At the Dread compound, The Prophet orders delivery of the weapon to Peters just before the military attacks. The Prophet and his men are killed, but The Prophet is revealed to be a surrogate of Doctor Canter. The Peters surrogate tricks Greer into getting information about the weapon from Stone's computer. The Peters surrogate then flees from Greer, taking the information and the weapon. Greer chases her, but she escapes and goes to FBI headquarters where she takes a human system administrator (who does not use a surrogate) hostage and hooks the weapon up the surrogate network to kill all the surrogate operators.

Greer calls the system administrator who reveals that Peters has taken him hostage. Greer heads to Canter's home and forces his way in. At the FBI building, the Peters surrogate confronts Stone's surrogate. Canter reveals that he is now controlling the Peters surrogate. Stone confirms he did try to have Canter assassinated. Canter uses the weapon to destroy Stone's surrogate and kill Stone (for killing his son). He then returns to uploading the weapon's virus to all the surrogates, which will destroy them and kill their operators. Greer makes his way through Canter's mansion and finds Canter, who then reveals he wants to destroy the surrogates and the people who use them. Canter expresses anger and regret over the fact that his original purpose for inventing surrogates has been hijacked by VSI in the name of profit and by the masses for their own selfish reasons. His vision was to give physically disabled individuals like himself (Canter is paraplegic) a chance at experiencing what they do not have. Canter has already started the destruction process through the Peters surrogate, and then kills himself via a cyanide pill.

Greer takes control of the Peters surrogate. With the assistance of the system administrator, Greer insulates the surrogate operators so they will survive even if the surrogates go down. He is then given the choice of whether or not to save the surrogates. FBI troops storm the room as Greer decides not to cancel the transmission. The virus from the weapon uploads and permanently shuts down every surrogate worldwide, leaving their operators alive, but having to go back to using their real bodies again. Greer goes home and connects with his wife in her real body. Media broadcasts reveal the surrogates are down worldwide and no one knows if they will ever be able to be recreated again.

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