The Surrogates (film)
Encyclopedia
Surrogates is a 2009 American science fiction
-action film
, based on the 2005–2006 comic book series of the same name
. Directed by Jonathan Mostow
, it stars Bruce Willis
as FBI Agent Tom Greer who ventures out into the real world to investigate the murder of surrogates, Radha Mitchell
plays Greer's partner Agent Peters, Rosamund Pike
plays Greer's wife Maggie, Boris Kodjoe
as Greer and Peters' boss Andrew Stone, with Ving Rhames
as the anti-surrogate religious leader Prophet, and James Cromwell
as the creator of the surrogates Dr. Lionel Canter.
The film's main concept centers around the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, good-looking, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Surrogates was released on September 25, 2009 in the United States and Canada. It was released by Touchstone Pictures
.
) has a strained relationship with his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike
), due to their son's death several years before. He never sees her outside of her surrogate and she criticizes his desire to interact via their real bodies.
Greer and his partner, Agent Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell
), investigate the death of two people who were killed when their surrogates were destroyed at a club. Jarid Canter (Shane Dzicek), son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell
), the inventor of surrogates, is one of the victims. Greer and Peters determine that a human named Miles Strickland (Jack Noseworthy) used a new type of weapon to overload the surrogates' systems and kill their operators. After locating Strickland, Greer attempts to bring him into custody. Strickland uses the weapon and injures Greer during the chase; Greer inadvertently crash-lands into an anti-surrogate zone known as the Dread Reservation (one of many throughout the United States). A mob of humans eventually destroy Greer's surrogate, forcing him to interact in the world without one. The Dread leader known as The Prophet (Ving Rhames
) kills Strickland and confiscates the weapon.
Agent Greer learns that the same company manufacturing the surrogates originally produced the weapon under a government contract. It was designed to load a virus that overloads the surrogate's systems, thus disabling it. Unexpectedly, the weapon also disabled the fail-safe protocols protecting surrogate operators. After the first test, the project was scrapped and all but one prototype were destroyed.
Agent Peters is murdered and an unknown party hijacks her surrogate. Greer is informed that Andrew Stone (Boris Kodjoe
), his FBI superior, supplied the weapon to Strickland and ordered Dr. Canter's assassination for his criticism of surrogate use. Jarid, using one of his father' many surrogates, was killed instead. The Prophet orders the weapon be delivered to Peters. During a military raid on the reservation, the Prophet is shot, revealing his identity as a surrogate, with none other than Dr. Canter himself as the operator.
Greer heads to Dr. Canter's home and discovers that he has been controlling not only the Prophet but Peters as well. Using Agent Peters' surrogate in FBI Headquarters, Dr. Canter uses the weapon to kill Stone and proceeds to upload the virus to all surrogates, which will destroy the surrogates and kill their operators. Believing his plan to be unstoppable, Canter disconnects from Peters's surrogate and swallows a cyanide
pill. Agent Greer takes control of the surrogate and with the assistance of the network's system administrator Bobby Saunders (Devin Ratray
), insulates the virus so the operators will survive. Agent Greer must choose to either destroy all surrogates or cancel the virus upload. Greer ultimately decides to let the virus permanently shut down surrogates worldwide. People emerge from their homes without their surrogates, confused and afraid.
Greer returns home and shares an emotional embrace with Maggie in her real form. The film ends with an aerial view of the collapsed surrogates along with overlapping news reports of the downed surrogates and how people are now "on their own" again.
with the intent to distribute under Touchstone Pictures
. The project was conceived by Max Handelman
and Elizabeth Banks
(Handelman's wife who is better known for her acting), and they enlisted producer Todd Lieberman to move it forward. Under Disney, Jonathan Mostow
was attached to direct the film based on an adapted screenplay by Michael Ferris and John Brancato. The following November, Bruce Willis
was cast to star in the lead role. Filming was scheduled to begin in February 2008 in Lynn, Massachusetts
. It was delayed, beginning on April 29, 2008 in Woburn. Filming then took place in the Massachusetts cities Lynn
, Worcester
, Milford
, Hopedale
, Taunton
, Lawrence
, and Wayland
. Visual effects were handled by Sandbox FX, Brickyard VFX, Industrial Light and Magic
and Moving Picture Company
.
in Hollywood, California
on September 24, 2009. It was released the next day in North American cinemas by Touchstone Pictures
to mixed reviews from film critics. The Motion Picture Association of America
gave the film a PG-13 rating for "intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene."
reported that 39% of critics gave the film positive ratings, based on 109 reviews, while the "Top Critics" gave it a rating of 43% with a consensus that "Though it sports a slick look and feel, Surrogates fails to capitalize on a promising premise, relying instead on mindless action and a poor script". Metacritic
gave the film an average score of 45, based on 21 critic reviews. IGN
gave the film a 6.0/10, saying that "it provides a competently made, relatively predictable and slickly presented piece of genre entertainment, offering just the right amount of action beats and futuristic visuals to keep the viewer engaged without ever having an actual thought. It's good, escapist fun." Yahoo! Movies
gave it a grade "C+" based on 10 reviews.
Entertainment Weekly
's Lisa Schwarzbaum concluded her positive review saying that "there's fun robot stuff, some good philosophical ideas, and a brief, nutty Willis-Ving Rhames reunion 15 years after Pulp Fiction
. Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film 2½ stars out of 4. Ebert stated that Surrogates is entertaining and ingenious, but it settles too soon for formula. While more ambitious than it has to be, the film descends into action scenes too quickly. He also says that the concept, based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, would lead naturally to intriguing considerations. Some critics, however, were not too favorable to the film: Claudia Puig of USA Today
called it "a poor substitute of sci-fi thriller saying that the tone of the movie is rarely satirical and that it's more concerned with political intrigue involving pockets of anti-surrogate protesters that enjoy bludgeoning the machines." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel
gave it a negative review implying that "Surrogates may be watchable, but it never manages to be anything more than a poor substitute for the real thing."
Jordan Hoffman of UGO Entertainment gave Surrogates a B+ rating, saying it is intellectually stimulating enough to keep you intrigued while never forgetting its obligation as B movie fun. Todd McCarthy of Variety
described it as an intense and eerily plausible science fiction thriller.
. For the second weekend of Oct 2-4th, it saw a 45% decrease where it dropped down to 4th place at the box office only to gross $7,241,054. The third domestic weekend release saw a 36% decrease, which was 9% less than its last weekend. The film went on to gross $38,577,772 domestically and $83,867,000 worldwide against an $80 million budget, giving it an overall gross of $122,444,772.
. Surrogates is the fifth film that director Jonathan Mostow
and composer Richard Marvin have collaborated on. Marvin recorded his score with an 120-piece orchestra of the Hollywood Studio Symphony
. Although it was not featured in the soundtrack, The song "I Will Not Bow
" performed by Breaking Benjamin
, was played during the film's ending credits. The soundtrack was released on November 23, 2009.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
-action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, based on the 2005–2006 comic book series of the same name
The Surrogates
The Surrogates is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Robert Venditti, drawn by Brett Weldele, and published by Top Shelf Productions from 2005 to 2006...
. Directed by Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow is an American film director, writer and producer.-Biography:A graduate of Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut and Harvard, Mostow also trained at the American Repertory Company and New York City's Lee Strasberg Institute...
, it stars Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as FBI Agent Tom Greer who ventures out into the real world to investigate the murder of surrogates, Radha Mitchell
Radha Mitchell
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
plays Greer's partner Agent Peters, Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is a British actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version and Kate Sumner in Johnny English...
plays Greer's wife Maggie, Boris Kodjoe
Boris Kodjoe
Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe , better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born German actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States...
as Greer and Peters' boss Andrew Stone, with Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
as the anti-surrogate religious leader Prophet, and James Cromwell
James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...
as the creator of the surrogates Dr. Lionel Canter.
The film's main concept centers around the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, good-looking, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Surrogates was released on September 25, 2009 in the United States and Canada. It was released by Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
.
Plot
In the future, widespread use of remotely-controlled androids called "surrogates" allow everyone to live in idealized forms from the safety of their homes. A surrogate's operator is protected from harm and feels no pain when their surrogate is damaged. FBI agent Tom Greer (Bruce WillisBruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
) has a strained relationship with his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is a British actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version and Kate Sumner in Johnny English...
), due to their son's death several years before. He never sees her outside of her surrogate and she criticizes his desire to interact via their real bodies.
Greer and his partner, Agent Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell
Radha Mitchell
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
), investigate the death of two people who were killed when their surrogates were destroyed at a club. Jarid Canter (Shane Dzicek), son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell
James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...
), the inventor of surrogates, is one of the victims. Greer and Peters determine that a human named Miles Strickland (Jack Noseworthy) used a new type of weapon to overload the surrogates' systems and kill their operators. After locating Strickland, Greer attempts to bring him into custody. Strickland uses the weapon and injures Greer during the chase; Greer inadvertently crash-lands into an anti-surrogate zone known as the Dread Reservation (one of many throughout the United States). A mob of humans eventually destroy Greer's surrogate, forcing him to interact in the world without one. The Dread leader known as The Prophet (Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
) kills Strickland and confiscates the weapon.
Agent Greer learns that the same company manufacturing the surrogates originally produced the weapon under a government contract. It was designed to load a virus that overloads the surrogate's systems, thus disabling it. Unexpectedly, the weapon also disabled the fail-safe protocols protecting surrogate operators. After the first test, the project was scrapped and all but one prototype were destroyed.
Agent Peters is murdered and an unknown party hijacks her surrogate. Greer is informed that Andrew Stone (Boris Kodjoe
Boris Kodjoe
Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe , better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born German actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States...
), his FBI superior, supplied the weapon to Strickland and ordered Dr. Canter's assassination for his criticism of surrogate use. Jarid, using one of his father' many surrogates, was killed instead. The Prophet orders the weapon be delivered to Peters. During a military raid on the reservation, the Prophet is shot, revealing his identity as a surrogate, with none other than Dr. Canter himself as the operator.
Greer heads to Dr. Canter's home and discovers that he has been controlling not only the Prophet but Peters as well. Using Agent Peters' surrogate in FBI Headquarters, Dr. Canter uses the weapon to kill Stone and proceeds to upload the virus to all surrogates, which will destroy the surrogates and kill their operators. Believing his plan to be unstoppable, Canter disconnects from Peters's surrogate and swallows a cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
pill. Agent Greer takes control of the surrogate and with the assistance of the network's system administrator Bobby Saunders (Devin Ratray
Devin Ratray
Devin D. Ratray is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He is most famous for his roles in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.-Biography:...
), insulates the virus so the operators will survive. Agent Greer must choose to either destroy all surrogates or cancel the virus upload. Greer ultimately decides to let the virus permanently shut down surrogates worldwide. People emerge from their homes without their surrogates, confused and afraid.
Greer returns home and shares an emotional embrace with Maggie in her real form. The film ends with an aerial view of the collapsed surrogates along with overlapping news reports of the downed surrogates and how people are now "on their own" again.
Cast
- Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as Tom Greer, a determined FBI agent out to solve the crime of a mysterious homicide. - Radha MitchellRadha MitchellRadha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
as Agent Jennifer Peters, Agent Greer's partner - Rosamund PikeRosamund PikeRosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is a British actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version and Kate Sumner in Johnny English...
as Maggie Greer, Agent Greer's wife - Jack Noseworthy as Miles Strickland, a man hired to kill Lionel Canter.
- James CromwellJames CromwellJames Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...
as Dr. Lionel Canter, the inventor of the surrogates. - Ving RhamesVing RhamesIrving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
as The Prophet, a cult figure who disdains surrogates. - Boris KodjoeBoris KodjoeBoris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe , better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born German actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States...
as Andrew Stone, Peters's and Greer's supervisor at the FBI. - James Francis Ginty as Canter Surrogate, a surrogate that belonged to Lionel Canter's son.
- Trevor DonovanTrevor DonovanTrevor Donovan is an American actor.Donovan had short stints in 2007 on the NBC daytime soap Days of our Lives as Jeremy Horton. He had a minor role in the 2009 sci-fi film Surrogates playing the Surrogate form of Tom Greer .Donovan landed a recurring role on 90210 as Teddy Montgomery, first...
as Surrogate Tom Greer - Michael CudlitzMichael CudlitzMichael Cudlitz is an American actor. He can be seen in the TNT drama Southland, starring as John Cooper, and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman.-Life and career:...
as Colonel Brendon - Devin RatrayDevin RatrayDevin D. Ratray is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He is most famous for his roles in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.-Biography:...
as Bobby Saunders, the administrator of the FBI computer system that controls the surrogate network. - Helena MattssonHelena MattssonHelena Mattsson is a Swedish actress, currently living and working in Hollywood.Mattsson was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, had roles early on in Wild Side Story and other cabarets there, and moved at a young age to London, England, to attend theatre school.When she was 19 years old she...
as JJ, a blonde female surrogate. - Shane Dzicek as Jarod Canter, son of Dr. Lionel Canter.
- Dorothy BrodesserDorothy BrodesserDorothy Brodesser was born Schenectady, New York. She appeared in several films including The Crucible and Surrogates- References :http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/1196542/Dorothy_Brodesserhttp://www.blockbuster.com/browse/catalog/personDetails/349788...
as Dread Woman
Production
In March 2007, Disney acquired feature film rights to the 2005–2006 comic book series The SurrogatesThe Surrogates
The Surrogates is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Robert Venditti, drawn by Brett Weldele, and published by Top Shelf Productions from 2005 to 2006...
with the intent to distribute under Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
. The project was conceived by Max Handelman
Max Handelman
Max Handelman is an American author, sportswriter, executive, film producer, and blogger. He wrote the book Why Fantasy Football Matters: .-Education:...
and Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
(Handelman's wife who is better known for her acting), and they enlisted producer Todd Lieberman to move it forward. Under Disney, Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow is an American film director, writer and producer.-Biography:A graduate of Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut and Harvard, Mostow also trained at the American Repertory Company and New York City's Lee Strasberg Institute...
was attached to direct the film based on an adapted screenplay by Michael Ferris and John Brancato. The following November, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
was cast to star in the lead role. Filming was scheduled to begin in February 2008 in Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
. It was delayed, beginning on April 29, 2008 in Woburn. Filming then took place in the Massachusetts cities Lynn
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
, Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, Milford
Milford, Massachusetts
Milford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It had a population of 27,999 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Milford, constituting the center of the town, please see the article Milford ,...
, Hopedale
Hopedale, Massachusetts
Hopedale is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Hopedale, please see the article Hopedale , Massachusetts....
, Taunton
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...
, Lawrence
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
, and Wayland
Wayland, Massachusetts
Wayland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,994 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on Cochituate, which is part of Wayland, please see the article Cochituate, Massachusetts.-History:...
. Visual effects were handled by Sandbox FX, Brickyard VFX, Industrial Light and Magic
Industrial Light and Magic
Industrial Light & Magic is an Academy Award-winning motion picture visual effects company that was founded in May 1975 by George Lucas and is owned by Lucasfilm. Lucas created the company when he discovered that the special effects department at 20th Century Fox was shut down after he was given...
and Moving Picture Company
Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company is a post production facility creating digital visual effects and computer animation for feature films, commercials, music videos and television...
.
Release
Surrogates had its world premiere at the El Capitan TheatreEl Capitan Theatre
El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is owned by Pacific Theatres and operated by the Walt Disney Company. It serves as the venue for many of Walt Disney Pictures' movie premieres...
in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on September 24, 2009. It was released the next day in North American cinemas by Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
to mixed reviews from film critics. The Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
gave the film a PG-13 rating for "intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene."
Critical reception
Surrogates was not pre-screened for critics. It received generally mixed reviews from film critics. The review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 39% of critics gave the film positive ratings, based on 109 reviews, while the "Top Critics" gave it a rating of 43% with a consensus that "Though it sports a slick look and feel, Surrogates fails to capitalize on a promising premise, relying instead on mindless action and a poor script". Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film an average score of 45, based on 21 critic reviews. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the film a 6.0/10, saying that "it provides a competently made, relatively predictable and slickly presented piece of genre entertainment, offering just the right amount of action beats and futuristic visuals to keep the viewer engaged without ever having an actual thought. It's good, escapist fun." Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
gave it a grade "C+" based on 10 reviews.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
's Lisa Schwarzbaum concluded her positive review saying that "there's fun robot stuff, some good philosophical ideas, and a brief, nutty Willis-Ving Rhames reunion 15 years after Pulp Fiction
Pulp fiction
Pulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film 2½ stars out of 4. Ebert stated that Surrogates is entertaining and ingenious, but it settles too soon for formula. While more ambitious than it has to be, the film descends into action scenes too quickly. He also says that the concept, based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, would lead naturally to intriguing considerations. Some critics, however, were not too favorable to the film: Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
called it "a poor substitute of sci-fi thriller saying that the tone of the movie is rarely satirical and that it's more concerned with political intrigue involving pockets of anti-surrogate protesters that enjoy bludgeoning the machines." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
gave it a negative review implying that "Surrogates may be watchable, but it never manages to be anything more than a poor substitute for the real thing."
Jordan Hoffman of UGO Entertainment gave Surrogates a B+ rating, saying it is intellectually stimulating enough to keep you intrigued while never forgetting its obligation as B movie fun. Todd McCarthy of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described it as an intense and eerily plausible science fiction thriller.
Box office performance
Surrogates played at 2,992 theaters on September 25, 2009, where it generated $5,053,646. On its opening weekend, it grossed to $14,902,692, averaging $5,050 per theater, ranking #2 at the U.S. box office, behind Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, distributed by Columbia Pictures, and released on September 18, 2009. The film is loosely based on the children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett.The film...
. For the second weekend of Oct 2-4th, it saw a 45% decrease where it dropped down to 4th place at the box office only to gross $7,241,054. The third domestic weekend release saw a 36% decrease, which was 9% less than its last weekend. The film went on to gross $38,577,772 domestically and $83,867,000 worldwide against an $80 million budget, giving it an overall gross of $122,444,772.
Home media
The DVD & Blu-ray was released on January 26, 2010. The Blu-ray version features four deleted scenes, a commentary by director Jonathan Mostow, and 2 featurettes. The movie has sold over 709,000 units which gives it a total gross of $12,004,442 in DVD sales as of November 17th, 2011.Soundtrack
Surrogates: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was orchestrated by composer Richard MarvinRichard Marvin (composer)
Richard Marvin is an American film composer, who is known for composing scores for television shows and motion picture films.Marvin is best known for his soundtrack collaboration for the 2000 film U-571 and the 2009 Sci-fi film Surrogates....
. Surrogates is the fifth film that director Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow is an American film director, writer and producer.-Biography:A graduate of Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut and Harvard, Mostow also trained at the American Repertory Company and New York City's Lee Strasberg Institute...
and composer Richard Marvin have collaborated on. Marvin recorded his score with an 120-piece orchestra of the Hollywood Studio Symphony
Hollywood Studio Symphony
The Hollywood Studio Symphony is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Sucker Punch, Jurassic Park 3, Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, We Are Marshall, Spider-Man 2, Lost and The...
. Although it was not featured in the soundtrack, The song "I Will Not Bow
I Will Not Bow
-Music video:The music video for "I Will Not Bow" was released to the band's Myspace on August 21, 2009. It featured clips from the movie Surrogates. The video was shot at the World Trade Center building 7, but has no connection or significant meaning having to do with the 9/11 events as stated by...
" performed by Breaking Benjamin
Breaking Benjamin
Breaking Benjamin is an American rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, currently consisting of Benjamin Burnley and Chad Szeliga. The band has released four studio albums to date and a greatest hits album that was released on August 16, 2011. The group initially went on indefinite hiatus due...
, was played during the film's ending credits. The soundtrack was released on November 23, 2009.