*** out of *****

The machines will get you.

At least, that’s the message cinema has sent us with its semi-apocalyptic tales of man’s industrial enslavement. Surrogates, a film from the makers of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, embraces influences from such technological thrillers as The Matrix and The Terminator (and perhaps even the iPhone’s rise to power) — however, the story seems in need of an upgrade.

Surrogates takes place in a fictional near-future marked by its use of attractive robotic human likenesses (called “surries”) that act in the day-to-day world in place of their human counterparts.

For the first time in years, a surrogate human operator is murdered by a weapon capable of not only disabling a surrogate but actually melting the brain of its operator (unfortunately, no explanation is given about how a computer virus can melt a human brain, but the blood and brain matter that spatters from the operators’ eyelids and noses is still fun to look at).

Eventually, FBI agent Greer (Bruce Willis) unveils a conspiracy involving the Army, the surrogates’ disgruntled inventor, and the Dread Colonies (a group that finds surrogates’ use inherently wrong).

The Colonies’ leader (played by Ving Rhames with heavy dreadlocks) is dubbed “The Prophet” — Surrogates’ more ruthless version of The Matrix’s Morpheus, and a Wachowski-inspired battle between the Colonies and the surries ensues when Greer gets involved. All plot twists are expected and reinforce a banal apocalyptic theme. Still, the film provides reasonably exciting action sequences and an uncommonly frail, yet decidedly awesome Bruce Willis.

Despite its unoriginal plot, the real-life undertones of Surrogates are apparent. At first, it seems that this story is set in a distant future where every corporate building bears a distinct similarity to London Heathrow Airport with large TV screens and faux-friendly intercom voices at every turn.

But when present-day objects such as Toyota Priuses and Gap clothing appear on screen, it becomes eerily apparent that this possible future may not be all that distant.

In Surrogates, touch, sight, and sound are all remotely received through the “surries” that act in place of their operators in everyday life. Similarly, the present-day MMORPG player’s ultimate fantasy is to re-create a reality in which a person can do anything and be anyone with an enhanced level of anonymity and no fear of physical danger.

Essentially, the film serves as a well-articulated warning that points out the dangers of taking technology too far. However, the message won’t be heeded until an iPhone app is developed that allows the device to not only make calls, play music, run games, and monitor our schedules, but also transmit touch via Bluetooth and find other Apple technology physically attractive. Until that day, Surrogates is entertaining but largely uninteresting.