Surrogates (2009)

Surrogates is something like Eagle Eye meets I, Robot -- except we are the robots (simulacra driven by virtual reality interfaces, actually) and the global assault threatens all of humanity (except the Luddite yahoos who live in squalid camps who would be the only survivors). It's a very nicely done story on a sci-fi subject I would be hard-pressed to find tackled elsewhere. (WALL-E showed what would happen if humanity's survivors tooled around on ad-blasted virtual-reality couches: Can you say Blimp My Ride? So what would happen to the human spirit if all real-world, face-time interaction -- with its attendant risks and rewards -- were performed by designer-model human surrogates while flesh-and-blood people never left their homes?) Bruce Willis plays his blonde-haired plainclothes-cop simulacra, investigating and chasing bad guys out in the real world, as well as his unplugged self getting slapped around in helicopters, cars, and other conveyances when it is the only way to save the world. James Cromwell is the creator of surrogate technology, forced out of his company and now playing more than one role in the lethal endgame. Surrogates is action-packed like Die Hard but with technology like Eagle Eye and a few nods to pathos like AI. I like it better than I, Robot. 4.5 stars. (6-8-11)