Total Recall (2012)

His Review:

The futuristic world is not like the one we know today. It has been decimated by war and only 2 parts of Earth remain functional; The United Federation of Britain and The Colony (former Australia). The two areas are connected by a channel which travels through Earth’s core called “The Fall” and acts as a transport.  In this remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi thriller of the same name, Colin Farrell stars as Doug Quaid, a factory worker who is haunted by vivid dreams almost every night.  A friend tells him of a company called Rekall that can install fake “memories” into the brain that make life seem like something it truly isn’t.  When Quaid goes to Rekall, something happens which triggers instincts inside him he never knew he had.  Now people are after him and wish him dead, namely his wife (Kate Beckinsale), but he seems to have an ally that knew him long ago.  Melina (Jessica Beal) is the same woman from his dreams and she informs Quaid that the life he knows to be true is a fabrication and that he is truly someone else entirely.  Does he believe her?  Is he really someone else? or is he simply sitting in a chair at Rekall having an adventure?

The best way to describe the new version of Total Recall is to throw I, Robot, Minority Report, the original Total Recall, and the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution into a blender and hit frappé.  The setting is dark, dingy and raining all the time.  When it isn’t, the action is inside where you see mostly grays, silvers and whites.  I’m not sure exactly why Len Wiseman (Underworld, Underworld Evolution, Live Free or Die Hard) felt Total Recall needed a remake, but I don’t believe that it’s as bad as most of the critics are saying it is.  This time around the story (so it is said) is closer to the book than the original.  The story parallels about the same with the original until the scene where Quaid is approached by a man telling him he is still at Rekall and must kill Melina to abandon the simulation or be lost forever in the program.  After that scene, it takes a turn into plot material we haven’t seen before.  Even the ending is drawn out longer than we saw in the original.  Mars may be gone, but some little things are kept in the film such as the 3-boobed woman and a cleverly added look-alike of the woman Schwarzenegger disguises himself as during the same scene in the original.  Listen for the “Two Weeks” and you’ll understand.  As its own movie, Total Recall is fast, action packed and has some nice stunning sci-fi visuals, but as a remake, it’s a decent movie, but I would still recommend the original as it is superior.  Co-starring Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho, and Bokeem Woodbine.

8/10 Stars – Felt like I was watching the movie version of Deus Ex Human Revolution, just with a different story.  Might have been better with an original story rather than one that was borrowed.

Click below for links to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386703/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/total_recall_2010/