Total Recall (2012)

Director:  Len Wiseman

 

Why remake a movie like Total Recall?  Back in the early nineties, the first version starred  ”Ahnuld the Governator” and was a kitschy thriller with very few memorable moments.  You can catch this movie some times in repeat on TBS or TNT, but it’s not like there are that many die-hard fans of the original that strap a third boob on to their chest and head out to Comic Con each year to celebrate their fandom (if you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about).  So, again, why do a remake?

I can see two main reasons.  For one, brand recognition, while thin there are plenty of people around my age that still remember the original.  Also, the basic story is solid and really is one of the staples of the action genre at this point.  In recent thrillers such as the Bourne films, we’ve seen the “due to memory loss I forgot I was an action hero stud” thing done a couple times over.  But that doesn’t mean people are tired of seeing it and that you can’t bring something net new to the mix.

Well, this one didn’t really light up the box office with huge returns, but I’m here to tell you that’s a shame.  This version of Total Recall was exactly the distraction I wanted it to be.  An all-out action movie from beginning to end with inventive set pieces, a cool star in Colin Farrell who could deliver a convincing performance, and futuristic sci-fi ideas that were nifty enough to make me notice.  The story is set in the future following great chemical warfare on Earth.  Life on the planet can now only be maintained in two safe spots, which are England and Australia.  In order to travel between the two, a unique passage called “The Fall” exists which shoots people down through the Earth’s core to end up on the other side of the planet.  It is far-fetched no doubt, but one of the smarter inventions that this movie brings to the table.  The story again follows Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) who starts out living a below average boring life with his wife (the suspiciously terrific Kate Beckinsale) feeling like something is missing due to these weird dreams he keeps having.  Before long, he ends up at Rekall, a “vacation of the mind” download tourist agency and all heck breaks loose.  It appears, in a scene right out of The Bourne Identity, that Quaid can really handle himself with a gun, even against several trained agents.  Once Quaid returns home and finds, no spoiler here, that his wife is in on things and attempts to kill him, the movie remains in a quick-paced, action chase mode from here on out.  There are flying cars that feel like Minority Report, a colony of robot government agents that harken back to Star Wars clone troopers, and explosions galore. 

This movie is really a mesh of some really good sci-fi moments of the past, all wrapped up into one nifty display.  I understand that people would be disinterested in something that seems to be such a do-over, and I can’t argue that it’s not one.  However, I found that it is a smart film with a good action director in Len Wiseman.  I recommend you give it a try.