Review 171: Total Recall (2012)
Much like the 1990 original, the film is loosely based on the short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick. At the end of the 21st Century, after devastated by chemical warfare, Earth is divided into two superpowers: the United Federation of Britain (UFB) and the Colony who are locked in a battle for supremacy. In this world lives Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), a simple factory worker who visits Rekall, a revolutionary company that can turn his superspy fantasies into real memories. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, the line between fantasy and reality blurs as Quaid becomes a man on the run and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
The basic plot of the film is the same as the original and asks the same central question? What is real and what isn't? But lacks the trip to Mars and instead features more political overtones. What's going on with Quaid in this version is surface memory, certain things will trigger his skills. He'll be faced with a problem then suddenly, a solution arrives. He doesn't even know how he did it.
To me, this remake of Total Recall seems very inspired by Minority Report and The Bourne Trilogy with a pinch of Blade Runner thrown in for good measure, tonally and styalistcally but it comes across as pale and passable imitation of those films as opposed to using their styles in a creative way.
That's all fine in its own way but the problem with this film is that it never takes any risks of chances to make it stand out amongst the sci fi action crowd. For all its campiness, the 1990 original had a sense of flair, fun and absurdity thanks to its outlandish designs and humour. This film borrows elements from the aforementioned films but doesn't really put any spins on them.
To paraphrase IGN, it's kinda like a cover song by a tribute band: They hit the right notes but doesn't have any soul or passion or personality of its own. It plays it mostly straight and opts for a rather standard chase movie with very little on the intellectual side of things.
That being said, everything in this film is executed with technical proficiency and does deliver the goods in terms of action.
This is a well made film. Director Len Wiseman direction is stylish, keeping the 118 min narrative flowing at a fast pace.
The cinematography is stunning and captures the grim dystopian feel of the film, lighting especially lending a lot of texture and detail. The production design is brilliant; The Colony, itself, is a grimy, rainy setting with little micro houses stacked on top of each other. People now have phones embeded into their hands which can also project video chats onto glass surfaces. The UFB has a huge sky road with hover cars which can be driven on top of and under.
That being said, everything in this film is executed with technical proficiency and does deliver the goods in terms of action.
This is a well made film. Director Len Wiseman direction is stylish, keeping the 118 min narrative flowing at a fast pace.
The cinematography is stunning and captures the grim dystopian feel of the film, lighting especially lending a lot of texture and detail. The production design is brilliant; The Colony, itself, is a grimy, rainy setting with little micro houses stacked on top of each other. People now have phones embeded into their hands which can also project video chats onto glass surfaces. The UFB has a huge sky road with hover cars which can be driven on top of and under.
The special effects are terrific, on particular effect is when The Fall approaches the Earth's and there's a loss of gravity and the whole set looks convincingly waightless.
The costume design is superb, the make up is rich, the score by Harry Gregson-Williams, however, is just ok, making of electronic action cues but cannot hold a candle to the late Jerry Goldsmith's avant garde synthesiser score for the original. The action scenes are exciting, well choreographed, visually impressive and expertly staged, the highlight being the hover car chase.
The acting is mostly solid, Colin Farrell makes a solid and sympathetic leading man, unlike Schwarzenegger in the 1990 film, he plays the part pretty straight with no cheesy 90's one-liners of winking at the camera and just comes across as more believable in the part of the board, everyday factory worker and the Bourne-esque superspy he turns out to be, ultimately plays a role that Tom Cruise could have played in his sleep.
The film does a solid job of building him up as a board factory worker whose in desperate need of excitement. Farrell brings a much needed humanity and warmth to the precedings.
Kate Beckinsale seems to be having a blast playing Lori, Doug's "wife", though really this version of the character is an amalgamation of Sharon Stone's Lori and Michael Ironside's Richter from the 1990 original. Lori believes in the system and is firecely loyal to Cohaagen but she's somewhat unhinged. The relationship between Quaid and Lori is given more focus in the first half Much like Sharon Stone in the 90's original, she goes from the sweet concerned wife to killing machine in the space of a second but without Stone's Ultimately, she comes across as a much more evil version of Selene from Underworld.
Jessica Biel is more than adequate as Melina. While she certainly kicks plenty of ass, she’s a two dimensional character. She doesn't have any the charisma or attitude of Rachel Ticotin and overall comes across as to self-serious in the role.
Bryan Cranston is criminally underused as the villain Cohaagen. Whilst Cranston is appropriately menacing in the role, he bearly has any screen-time and doesn't come into play until the third act which is when he's really given an opportunity to get his hands dirty.
John Cho, Bokeem Woodbine & Bill Nighy round out the cast in smaller but overall thankless roles
Overall, Total Recall (2012) is perfectly average - not bad, but nothing truly memorable, 3.5/5
The Anonymous Critic
The acting is mostly solid, Colin Farrell makes a solid and sympathetic leading man, unlike Schwarzenegger in the 1990 film, he plays the part pretty straight with no cheesy 90's one-liners of winking at the camera and just comes across as more believable in the part of the board, everyday factory worker and the Bourne-esque superspy he turns out to be, ultimately plays a role that Tom Cruise could have played in his sleep.
The film does a solid job of building him up as a board factory worker whose in desperate need of excitement. Farrell brings a much needed humanity and warmth to the precedings.
Kate Beckinsale seems to be having a blast playing Lori, Doug's "wife", though really this version of the character is an amalgamation of Sharon Stone's Lori and Michael Ironside's Richter from the 1990 original. Lori believes in the system and is firecely loyal to Cohaagen but she's somewhat unhinged. The relationship between Quaid and Lori is given more focus in the first half Much like Sharon Stone in the 90's original, she goes from the sweet concerned wife to killing machine in the space of a second but without Stone's Ultimately, she comes across as a much more evil version of Selene from Underworld.
Jessica Biel is more than adequate as Melina. While she certainly kicks plenty of ass, she’s a two dimensional character. She doesn't have any the charisma or attitude of Rachel Ticotin and overall comes across as to self-serious in the role.
Bryan Cranston is criminally underused as the villain Cohaagen. Whilst Cranston is appropriately menacing in the role, he bearly has any screen-time and doesn't come into play until the third act which is when he's really given an opportunity to get his hands dirty.
John Cho, Bokeem Woodbine & Bill Nighy round out the cast in smaller but overall thankless roles
Overall, Total Recall (2012) is perfectly average - not bad, but nothing truly memorable, 3.5/5
The Anonymous Critic
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