Starring: Bruce Willis, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames,
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Genre: Science Fiction
Rated: PG-13

In the future humans live in isolation and all interaction is done through robots that they control called “surrogates”

When a Surrogate is killed and its death causes the person running the surrogate to die Bruce Willis is a cop who tries to figure out how this happened.

Bruce Willis stars as Tom Greer a Cop who is trying to figure out how by killing a surrogate could the operator of the surrogate die as well. His surrogate is then destroyed and he must leave his apartment for the first time in a long time and be a detective in the real world as himself.

While the premise has some possibilities the execution is rather weak. The mystery of how this happens is figured out quickly, it then becomes a search for the weapon and who is behind it, with only a few characters there are not many choices and the mystery is quickly figured out.

For the life of me I can’t comprehend how they can create robots that look like humans and have the ability to leap like superhuman ninjas but they can’t create something that doesn’t look like a dead house cat to be the hair on Bruce Willis’ surrogate head.

The people live through there surrogates for most of their life and never leave there house yet when the surrogates get turned off and the people leave there home they are all people in great shape just in pajamas, It appears that in the future you can lay in a chair and never move and the worst that will happen is that you grow facial hair and don’t wear makeup, yet the one person in the movie who doesn’t have a surrogate is a fat mess.

There is also a lame chase scene where Bruce Willis is hunting down the owner of the mystery weapon and gets hit by a truck the next scene he is walking up to the guy with gun the mob of people chasing him that just ran him over somehow let him go (we don’t see how) only to shoot him when he catches the guy and gets the weapon this is stupid at best; furthermore the surrogates have superhuman strength yet even though Surrogate Bruce has a gun he never shoots the guy nor does he throw the gun at the guy to knock him down he just carries the rifle like a prop.

There is also a really pathetic scene where human Bruce Willis walks out onto the street for the first time, he is all disoriented and freaked out it is the dumbest most illogical scene of the whole movie he is walking around his apartment in the beginning of the movie so being outside of his surrogate is something he does, he just doesn’t leave his house as well as his surrogate has all five senses. Yet somehow going outside is really traumatic for him, this scene is a prime example of how the movie has a good premise but poor execution on the premise it would make sense if he never left the surrogate and was hooked up to feeding tubes etc but he isn’t, he walks around his apartment and talks about going on vacation outside of his surrogate.

Surrogates is remotely entertaining and better than I thought it would be, but that is like saying the dog crap I stepped in didn’t smell as bad as I thought it would. The more I think about this movie the less I liked it.

The story of the founders of the Red Army Faction (RAF) from their inception after a police shooting during a youth demonstration, through there incarceration and the events following the Hijacking of the Lufthansa Plane.

The Baader-Meinhof Complex is an eye opening film that covers over a decade of events following the founding members of the RAF. Starting with a public demonstration where police violence leads to the shooting of a demonstrator. Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek)form the RAF an Urban Guerilla Organization set up to free Germany from Fascism through their own violent demonstrations. When Baader is arrested after going underground it is Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) who through her connections as a writer is able to put together a plan to free Baader; and thus becomes entrenched in the RAF for the better part of the 70’s

This is a very complex film that covers a decade’s worth of material and a vast cast of characters. We see how what the Baader-Meinhof group starts escalates into actions completely out of the founders control with second and third generation members performing acts of terrorism that would have never happened during the inception of the group. With the leaders locked up in prison and put into solitary confinement only able to utilize small coded messages to get there word out, the group takes on a life of its own.  What starts out as a few bombings moves on to Bank Robberies, Kidnapping, Murder and finally a full on plane Hijacking, with the motives of the group getting lost in midst of it all.

What truly sets Baader-Meinhof apart from other historical films is that it doesn’t pass judgment on either side but instead lays out the events that happened and allows the viewer to determine who was right and who was wrong which truly is a gray area. With excellent pacing a decade’s worth of events are covered in a brisk two and a half hours.

Having not been familiar with the events prior to viewing the film, it did something that most historical films do not, which is peak my interest and  make me want to learn more about the events covered. Baader-Meinhof is not a film it is an open window into a world I didn’t know existed with themes that are as relevant today as they were in the 70’s. The views expressed by the RAF towards Israel as well as America’s occupation in a foreign country could easily be placed in the current context of world events.

Dont get me wrong this isnt like watching a boring history book. There are  bombings, beatings, Shootouts, bank robberies  people getting shot in the face etc. there are plenty of thrills to go along with the history lesson on terrorism. However this is a movie that challenges the viewer to not only watch but to think as well, while the same time being very entertaining. I for one am glad that the Baader-Meinhof Complex has made its way to the US.

4 sniper kittens.