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| Following Arnold Schwarzenegger's lead in the original, Colin Farrell visits Rekall to uncover a hidden past. |
Like any Philip K. Dick adaptation, the 1990 original, while divided amongst moviegoers was still long before its time. And despite its campiness, now dated visuals and an abundance of Arnie one-liners, Total Recall was a light energetic ride from start to finish. This updated Total Recall takes a more serious approach, diving headfirst into a gritty political conflict between the two remaining superpowers, the dominant United Federation of Britain (Western Europe) and deeply Asian influenced Colony (Oceania). Caught in the middle of this struggle is factory worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), playing both sides as the world’s greatest double agent. The only catch is Quaid has no knowledge of his actual identity until fantasy and reality begin to jumble after a memory implantation attempt.
Total Recall holds the basic elements of the original film and the short story pretty tight, but director Len Wiseman does take a few creative liberties in making it his own interpretation. First of all, no Mars. That’s right, the movie’s called Total Recall and there is no desire or attempt to even bring an adventure to Mars into the picture. With a lack of red planet action, the entire story shifts between the UFB, The Colony and a core penetrating transport that connects the two. At least the sci-fi element hasn’t been comprised. Wiseman offers up several references to other sci-fi films such as Blade Runner and Minority Report that work more as a homage rather than being essentially functional.
At the helm of Total Recall is Colin Farrell taking over Schwarzenegger’s role. Farrell is effective in his own way, distancing himself from his predecessor’s over-the-top interpretation, but still shoehorned with unnecessary one-liners and inane dialogue. Farrell might not be as big of a household name as Arnold Schwarzenegger, but experiencing the film is more about where the story can go as opposed to which actor’s are going to be drawing audiences in. Joining Farrell are two love interest’s Lori (Kate Beckinsale) and Melina (Jessica Biel). It’s pretty obvious that Beckinsale was only cast, because she’s the director’s wife and she can get down and dirty if she needs to. Beckinsale replaces Sharon Stone from the original and her character is expanded past a simple cameo like Stone in 1990. She isn’t necessarily the best to take up the mantle of the Lori character, but again is simply there for other reasons. Like Beckinsale, Jessica Biel is there based on looks and toughness and really isn’t given much to work with past the ordinary as Melina.
Despite its shortcomings in creating a laundry list of action stars, Total Recall succeeds with its visuals, particularly its art direction. Visually, Total Recall has a stunning palette, fully developing a futuristic society that is very reminiscent of other Dick works. The UFB in particular is a labyrinthine maze of congested traffic perfect for adrenaline pumping chase sequences that come right out of the newer Star Wars films. Sometimes the relentless pursuits can get a bit silly as characters begin to leap from car to car thousands of feet in the air. The on-foot chases in The Colony are pretty much the same with Farrell using houses and everything around him as his own personal playground to escape. Ironically, the claustrophobic interior action sequences like the escape from Rekall are more exciting than any open environment.
Beyond that, the rest of Total Recall feels like an ordinary been there, done that, which bogs the narrative down with not enough investment. Remakes and reboots tend to aim low, relying more on brand name if anything else. Total Recall doesn’t aim low, but it does mask itself with visual eye candy to distract from its blatant simplicity. There’s only so much direction you can go when the movie is just chase sequence after chase sequence without any sort of depth proactively supporting the character’s journey. There really isn’t much difference if the UFB is in power or not, because the oppression is hammered home to a point of caring. We follow Quaid, maybe hope that he doesn’t get caught by the enemy, and if he does it’s just a minor inconvenience, nothing more. The problem with Total Recall lies within the lack of preparation and picking and choosing pieces that don’t fit together as they should.
For the first two acts, Total Recall is at the very least enjoyable with copying many twists and turns from the first film. Even if you’ve seen the Schwarzenegger version and know where the unexpected moments, it’s still entertaining to see it all play out. It’s only in the last 30 minutes where the plot derails and absurdity hits the fan. Not only does Wiseman play out the third act strictly by the book, but sets a good portion of that finale in the worst of circumstances. The idea of core penetrating transport that shuttles people to and from the separated societies tries its hardest to be a decorated symbol for social inequality and separation. However it’s nothing more than an ill-conceived plot device that by the end whimpers with a weak payoff.
Total Recall is better than the majority of reboots and remakes that have been churning out of Hollywood recently and continues to cement the fact that riding on the past will not ensure success . But being the best of the worst isn’t anything to brag about. There’s just enough entertainment value there to not regret checking out this remake, but like Quaid himself, Total Recall will be a memory forgotten all too easy.
GRADE: C+ (6/10)
This review is also available on Blu-Ray.com
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