Total Recall (2012)

Total Recall is based on a short story by Philip K Dick and it is a remake of the 1990 version which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whereas that version is takes place between Earth and Mars, this version takes place between the United Federation of Britain and the Colony (Australia). The action moves from one place to another by means of a giant lift where in the centre the gravity flips around.  The story sees a guy called Douglas Quaid (Farrell) who finds out that his memories are not real and that he is in fact a highly skilled agent working for UFB Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) and it’s a race to stop Cohaagen from invading the Colony. As plots go it’s pretty straight forward so what director Len Wiseman has done is fill it with several action sequences that are all superbly achieved and it would be good to watch the DVD extras to see how it was achieved.

Kate Beckinsale is very good as Lori who starts off as the wife of Colin Farrell but soon becomes an undercover UF agent.  Whilst her casting was due to the fact that she is married to the director it must be said that she wasn’t there just to make up the numbers. Colin Farrell isn’t someone that I have seen in a great number of films. I thought he was quite good in ‘In Bruges’ but apart from that I can’t say that I am a fan of his. Unlike Schwarzenegger, Farrell is much more believable as Quaid who was a regular blue collar worker and does well with the action sequences that the film requires. Jessica Biel was another person that I haven’t seen in too many films before but I was quite impressed with her performance as Melina who becomes Quaid’s love interest. Her introduction into the film was quite good as it was in the middle of quite an impressive action sequence.
I thought that this film was better than I thought it would be. Bill Nighy could have been in it more for my liking as it seemed fairly rushed. I also thought that there was a lot of glaring light that actually gave me a headache after a while. I know it was an attempt to try and create an atmosphere but all it achieved was to get me reaching for the paracetamol. The story was good, the action was also very good but the visuals were what made it an impressive film. It’s fair to say that the 1990 version may have dated even more now.

On a side note, the studio that made this was called Original Film. This is anything but original.