Total Recall (2012) – Blazing Minds Film Review

There seems to be a divide when it comes to this new version of Total Recall, with some hating every second of it and constantly comparing it to the 1990 version with Arnold Schwarzenegger and those that really enjoy the “reboot” of the Philip K Dick inspired movies.

It’s a story that we probably all know, hating his humdrum life, Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) takes a trip to Rekall, to inject some excitement in to his life and wants to have the memories of a spy.

But soon everything goes belly up when the Rekall office is invaded by heavily armed police, so Quaid kicks ass and goes on the run from his wife (Kate Beckinsale) only to hook up with the girl from his dreams, Melina (Jessica Biel)

So where do I stand on this new version of Total Recall?

Let me first start off by saying, I’m not a big fan of remakes, films that are almost identical to the original films seem pretty pointless to me and sometimes the same goes for reboots, an excuse to make a film again but with better special effects.

Total Recall is still not an exception, yes I love the 1990 version with all in tongue-in-cheek and one liners from Arnie and its comical moments, but with the 2012 version it’s more dark and completely action packed, so much action that sometimes you think to yourself, “slow down, I need to catch my breath”.

For an all out action movie Total Recall keeps up with a rather hedonistic pace, constantly throwing the action at you with chase sequence after chase sequence, then a few moments of time to fill you in with some story line to keep your mind interested and then get your heart pacing again with more action sequences.

Total Recall – Blade Runner-esq

One thing that really caught my eye in this multi-layered industrial world was that it just looked very much like Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Blade Runner, whether this is a nod to, probably, one of the best Philip K Dick adaptations or if Len Wiseman just wanted us to feel like we were in the same universe of Philip K Dick, I’m not entirely sure, but they did look good.

The CGI world looks really good, with its hover cars, much like Minority Report. The world isn’t sparkly clean, like the 1990 version, it is very Blade Runner”.

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale

Or maybe not! With the 1990 version they were so many memorable parts that just stick in your mind, but with the 2012 version, not so much, there are those nods to the 1990 version, but the film is so fast passed that you don’t really have the time to pick up on thing, it’s happened,  it’s gone!

The other issue I have is the chemistry between the main characters, there doesn’t seem to be any, you don’t feel them and you don’t care what happens to them, shame, because the potential is there to do it in a 2 hour film.

Now, I’m not saying I hate Total Recall, far from it, I thoroughly enjoyed the roller coaster ride, it’s fun, but it’s not amazing. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again, Hollywood really needs to stop rebooting/remaking films and come up more original films. There are so many books out there that are screaming, “make me in to a film!”

Overall Thoughts For Total Recall (2012)

It’s fast, it’s mainly action, it’s full of specially effects and given the choice between this and The Watch, go and see Total Recall. If you love a film that just pure action, then this is certainly the one for you, but to be honest, you can’t beat the Paul Verhoeven version from 1990.

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