SurrogatesMovie Reviews

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So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 14+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

75

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
There's fun robot stuff, some good philosophical ideas, and a brief, nutty Willis-Ving Rhames reunion 15 years after "Pulp Fiction." Read full review
70

Variety | Todd McCarthy
Mostow's smart speculative suspenser imagines a time when people can live through ideal versions of themselves while they sit wired up at home. Read full review
63

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert
Surrogates is entertaining and ingenious, but it settles too soon for formula. Read full review
50

Boston Globe | Ty Burr
A reasonably watchable sci-fi B movie, a case of a good director and some intriguing ideas struggling to overcome formula plotting, limp dialogue, and a serious case of the sillies. Read full review
50

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Half a howler but not nearly funny enough. Read full review
40

The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt
A mechanical sci-fi'er absent of logic or emotions. It functions as an expensive place-filler on the Disney release schedule and, as such, will be welcomed by only the least discriminating thriller fans. Read full review
40

The New York Times | Manohla Dargis
In this kind of industrial entertainment, particularly one that seems to be missing some connective narrative tissue, it's hard to know if the writers or the director can be credited or blamed for what's left on screen. Read full review
40

Los Angeles Times |
An interesting idea, but unfortunately, the film's narrative and emotional engine operate as mechanically as the titular, dead-eyed glamazoids. Read full review
38

Philadelphia Inquirer | David Hiltbrand
Surrogates, which borrows tone and content freely from "I, Robot," is all windup and no pitch. Read full review
30

Washington Post |
Surrogates takes an interesting idea -- the triumph of technological convenience over grimy, workaday life -- and buries it under clumsy exposition, unconvincing action sequences and a by-the-numbers conspiracy plot. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Surrogates on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Edgy sci-fi thriller is very violent; not for tweens/kids.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Surrogates pushes the limits of its PG-13 rating. Yes, it's set in a futuristic world and most of the violence and mayhem is directed at robot "surrogates," but the images are still disturbingly bloody and destructive because these surrogates are portrayed by (and look exactly like) humans. There are lots of shootings with direct hits at close range, bodies flying through the air, multiple crashes that leave many dead or severely wounded, beatings, burnings, and explosions. Scenes graphically depict the extermination of the human replicas. Strong language is fairly infrequent but includes "s--t"; there's also a good bit of drinking, as well as some futuristic drug use. Sexual activity is portrayed in only a few scenes, but it's shown as casual and self-indulgent and involves promiscuity (but no nudity).

Families can talk about the movie's violence. Does it have less impact because most of the victims are technically robots? Does the fact that they look more human than machine affect your reaction?
What is the movie saying about technology? Can you think of ways that technology could inhibit your active participation in life around you? Is there a way to safeguard against that?
All of the surrogates seem to be extremely beautiful, handsome, and very fit. What is the movie saying about how we see ourselves and the value we place on outward appearances?

The good stuff

Positive messages: The movie's basic message is that humankind is in great danger if human nature is sacrificed in favor of technological advancement. It suggests that isolating yourself and refusing to engage in the world will lead to passive self-destruction. The film also takes a harsh look at society's ideas of beauty and self worth. Each human operator creates a surrogate that conforms to the current popular notion of attractiveness and sex appeal, resulting in a society in which everyone is boringly young, thin, and gorgeous.
Positive role models: The hero is brave, honest, and resourceful. He's forced to make a weighty decision that's heavy with risk and consequence. The man responsible for the movie's bleak state of the world sees the error of his ways and tries to rescue humanity from the excesses of his own invention. The characters in whom the audience invest heavily all do the right thing when it counts.

What to watch for

Violence: Several humans are killed violently with futuristic weapons. Frequent shootings (many at point-blank range) of "surrogates" who look human and are portrayed by humans. Dead bodies (also the surrogates) are seen falling to the ground en masse. Also lots of explosions, car crashes, bodies being "liquified," vicious beatings, helicopters crashing, car chases, people burning, heads being smashed, etc. Many images of bloody faces, bloody eyeballs, and human faces peeling to reveal machines beneath.
Sex: Sexy dancing with lots of erotic groping and thrusting in a crowded club scene. A newly acquainted couple engages in passionate kissing and sexual foreplay just before they're shot to death while roughly embracing.
Language: Brief, infrequent strong language, including one use of "s--t," plus words like "kickass," "dick," "ass," "damn," "crap," and "oh my God."
Consumerism: Prius is seen on screen.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: One main character is addicted to drugs, as evidenced by large quantities of pills at her bedside. Some heavy drinking/drunkenness by the hero. One scene depicts futuristic drug use -- a blue liquid is injected into the veins of a large group of surrogate partygoers, sending them into spasms of ecstasy and hysteria.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.