Surrogates starring Bruce Willis
Surrogates is one of those comic-to-film adaptations that if you weren’t a nerd, or hadn’t been informed by one, you may not know that it existed as a graphic novel before being brought to life on the silver screen.
Writer Robert Venditti and artist Brett Wedele first brought this story of a world in which over 90% of the Earth’s population live their everyday lives through robotic surrogates to life in the five issue comic book miniseries The Surrogates from Top Shelf Productions in 2006. In a world where social networking sites, digital avatars, and virtual lives through online gaming dominate pop culture and the headlines, it doesn’t take a large stretch of the imagination to buy into this sci-fi premise of living life through a robotic stand-in while never leaving the comfort and safety of home.
Perhaps that is why Disney and Touchstone Pictures took a chance at adapting this little known indie comic and turning it into a large-budget blockbuster starring Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell. From a nerd’s standpoint, they did a pretty good job at adapting the graphic novel. After all, it’s harder to faithfully adapt a standalone graphic novel than it is a long running series such as Spider-man. At least if you want to please the nitpicky fanboy.
The Surrogates by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele
With a Spider-man or Batman, it is impossible to condense 40 years of story into a 90 minute film. So, the writers, directors, and producers take familiar characters, themes, and visuals and create a new story that seems familiar. But, even a five issue miniseries needs major cuts in order to fit into the allotted movie time. And, as anyone who has read a novel and then seen the movie adaptation knows, some scenes and characters just aren’t going to make it.
However, Surrogates is quite the opposite. The screenplay adds a lot more story elements that the graphic novel never had. And, not to take anything away from the original source material, but it actually works better. Without giving too much away (although the trailer spoils more than this review ever could), the main difference is the homicides that Greer (Bruce Willis) investigates.
In the film, when the mystery attacker destroys a Surrogate, it kills the operator as well. In the graphic novel, the operator survived, the investigations were simple destruction of property violations. But, in the movie, by adding that human danger, it really ups the ante in terms of drama and suspense. Whereas the book was far more subtle in terms of drama and played up the social commentary, the producers of this film wisely added a few elements like this to make the film a bit more engaging.
Bruce Willis in Surrogates
That’s not to say that this film is full of excitement and slam bang, sci-fi action. Don’t go in expecting something along the lines of The Fifth Element. This story is still very much a social commentary, as all good sci-fi is at its core. But, a few plot points, and “who dunnits” have been tweaked and expounded upon from the source material in order to make this film connect with a broader audience. Another nice addition is the sub plot about Greer and his wife Maggie having lost a child. This made their disconnect and her subsequent surrogate addiction more emotional and less superficial than in the graphic novel.
Fans of the comic will also notice that the color palette is far different from the source material. Whereas Weldele’s art had a rough, dark, Blade Runner-esque feel to it, the film has a very bright and sterile look. Although I jumped for joy when films like 300 captured the look and color scheme exactly, it made more sense to me that in a world free of crime and disease because everyone lived their lives through perfect robots, everything would look bright and clean.
All in all, if you’re a fan of sci-fi, robots, or Bruce Willis, you owe it to yourself to see this film in the theater. It is an engaging story with stunning visuals and a few nice action beats. If you’re a fan of the graphic novel, you’ll be pleased with this adaptation. While this movie did change and add elements, overall the story and theme are perfectly captured. And, if you approach it with an open mind, not expecting a perfect translation like Sin City, you’ll probably agree that the deviations from the source are for the better.
For more opionion on Surrogates, check out this review.
Need something to look forward to next week? Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
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