Total recall (2012)

Total Recall (2012)

 

4/10

Starring
Colin Farrell
Kate Beckinsale
Jessica Biel
Bryan Cranston
John Cho


Directed by Len Wiseman

The high note of this movie is the intense action scenes. They’re so engaging they’ll keep you glued. The first chase, where Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) leaps out of his apartment into the busy street and ends up in a car chase with his “beautiful wife” (Kate Beckinsale), is a scene worth seeing.

The problem with the movie is everything in between the action scenes. It’s humourless, emotionless, and down to the last word, boring.

Unlike the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger original, this Total Recall has no trip to Mars or anything outside Earth’s atmosphere.

Total Recall is a dystopian sci-fi action film remake of the 1990 classic, which was loosely based on the 1966 short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick.

Boasting some nice fight choreography, this Len Wiseman film isn’t very catchy. After a while, you forget all the highs and just want it to end.

The plot is similar to the original. At the end of the 21st century, Earth is divided into two territories: the United Federation of Britain (UFB) and the Colony (Australia), after World War 3 devastates the rest of the planet.

Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is bored with his life and decides to visit a company called Rekall, which implants memories. He wants them to implant the memory of a super spy in his brain.

Why? Because of the recurring dream he keeps having, where he’s being chased. Things go wrong at Rekall when the police burst in, intending to take Douglas. He ends up killing all ten officers without knowing how.

Back home, his wife also tries to kill him. This forces him to run, trying to figure out what’s going on—until he runs into the girl from his dreams, who tells him that everything he knows is a lie.

Now Douglas is on the run, following clues he left behind, leading to the truth about his real life.

Len Wiseman is the man behind the Underworld movies (with wife Kate Beckinsale) and directed Live Free or Die Hard in 2007.

There were rumours that Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to reprise his role. I’m glad that didn’t happen, and Colin Farrell was picked instead.

This movie has a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes—nothing compared to Farrell’s last two films, Horrible Bosses and Fright Night (both in 2011), which scored 69% and 73% respectively. Two of Colin’s best were in 2002: Minority Report and the underrated Hart’s War.

My advice? Wait till the car chase scene hits YouTube and watch that. It’s the only thing worth seeing in this flick.