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 "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public” is not exactly an adage that director Jonathan Mostow buys into. “I take the attitude that the audience is smart,” Mostow said during a virtual roundtable session promoting the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release of Surrogates, and his track record proves that’s not just lip service.
Mostow first made a name for himself in 1997 with the commercially successful and critically acclaimed thriller Breakdown and then continued on to direct the Academy Award-winning World War II submarine action-thriller U-571. He next directed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and wore the executive producer hat on Will Smith’s superhero drama Hancock. His latest feature, Surrogates, was one of several sci-fi offerings in 2009 and presented a unique film noir detective plot while challenging our culture’s accumulative addiction to technology and virtual networking.
“Making this movie made me much more conscious of how much time I spend on the computer,” Mostow admitted. “Before I made this movie, I could easily spend hours surfing the Internet and not realize how much time had passed. Now, after 10 minutes or so, I become aware that I'm making a choice by being ‘plugged in’--that it’s costing me time away from my family and friends.”
Did Mostow have any intention of creating a film that would lead to an understanding as to how to balance the pleasure and convenience we derive from technology against the need to spend enough time “unplugged” from it all? “I don't want to sound like I'm overhyping the importance of this movie, because after all, Surrogates is first and foremost intended to be a piece of entertainment, but I do think that movies can help play a role in helping society talk about these issues, even if sometimes only tangentially,” he said. “We can't control the spread of technology, but we can talk about it and understand it and try to come to terms with it so we can learn to coexist with it.”
Surrogates is based on the graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, originally set in the year 2050. Mostow soon realized that this would be detrimental in his translation from page to screen.
 “We planned flying cars, futuristic skyscapes…the whole nine yards. But as we began to look at other movies set in the future, we realized something: that for all the talent and money we could throw at the problem, the result would likely feel fake,” he explained, “because few films, except perhaps some despotic ones like Blade Runner, have managed to depict the future in a way that doesn't constantly distract the audience from the story with thoughts like, ‘Hey, look at those flying cars’ or ‘Hey, look at what phones are going to look like someday.’” This brought Mostow to the decision that Surrogates would take place in present time. “We wanted the audience thinking only about our core idea, which was robotic surrogates. So we decided to set the movie in a time that looked very much like our own, except for the presence of the surrogate technology.”
Mostow stated that of the 800 plus visual effect shots included in Surrogates (more than any film he’s worked on), the majority are of the actors. One of the many intriguing elements of the film focuses on the characters’ choices of how to embody themselves in public, a decision that in itself defines their world vision. Bruce Willis plays Tom Greer, an FBI agent whose surrogate is practically a life-sized Ken doll. Willis also portrays his robotic alter ego and Mostow explained the technology that went into that transformation, which is essentially a digital rejuvenation.
“We gave him a blond wig, fake eyebrows and, of course, makeup,” he said. “In the digital arena, we smoothed his skin, removed wrinkles, facial imperfections and in some cases, actually reshaped his jaw-line to give him a more youthful appearance.” But in the case of Willis, the “digital stabilizing” process went a bit too far. “We discovered with test audiences that if we went too far with Bruce's look, it was too distracting, so in certain cases, we had to pull back a bit,” Mostow explained.
 Mostow also employed some interesting camera techniques during filming, such as the use of Panavision. “For the look and feel of this movie, I found inspiration in some black-and-white films from the ’60s, early works of John Frankenheimer plus the original ‘Twilight Zone’ TV show,” he said. “All these had extensive use of wide-angle lenses--plus the ‘slant’ lens, which we used extensively. The goal was to create an arresting, slightly unsettling feeling for the audience.”
The director’s passion for Surrogate’s visual effects, production values and revelations of human truths is apparent in the finished product and his continuing enthusiasm as he promotes the film. He also realizes that behind all the whiz-bang special effects, there must be a core. “For me, the story must compel me and have dramatic tension. As you know from watching movies, that's hard to find,” Mostow said. “So the filmmakers who influence me most are the ones who are masters at creating suspense and tension…[Alfred] Hitchcock, [Steven] Spielberg and Frankenheimer are three that come to mind.”
In 2004, Mostow was voted Action Director of the Year by the World Stunt Association. What’s the formula for a successful and satisfying action flick? “Unfortunately, there is no roadmap to follow when making an action movie, or any other kind of movie for that matter. You find yourself armed with only your instincts, plus what you would want to see as an audience member yourself,” Mostow replied. “The place I always begin with is the story. If the audience doesn't care about that, then it doesn't matter how amazing the spectacle is. My central philosophy is that people go to the movies to be told a story, not to see stuff blow up.”
After proving himself early in his career with two outstanding action-thrillers and then succeeding in the science fiction genre, how does Mostow see himself proceeding as a director? “I've tried to resist labels, because I don't want to be categorized into a box,” he said. “And while I've enjoyed making two science-fiction films, it's not a genre that I've specifically sought out. If I had to guess, I'd predict that my next film will be a thriller; that's the genre I've most enjoyed.”
 Finally, the question had to be asked as the interview was conducted online and interviewers’ questions and Mostow’s answers were in written format with no visual or audible contact: Was this the real Jonathan Mostow or a surrogate?
“I'm the real me,” Mostow responded. “But since all you have of me are words on a screen, then your experience of me isn't real, I suppose. Ah, the irony of it all.”
Surrogates is available on DVD and Blu-ray Jan. 26.
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