Total Recall is a total eye-candy epic that plays with elements of sci-fi action fused with elements of politics and realism. On par and even a bit edgier than the original.
The film is obviously a remake of which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger but rather than seeing a muscle bound Governator running around and punching people we get pretty boy Colin Farrell taking over.
I'm risking life and limb here when I say that the movie is actually better than the original film. It's more livelier and action packed and hell you've got two hotties literally and figuratively fighting for Farrell's life and well-being.
Farrell plays the role of Douglas Quaid, an average factory worker married to the stunningly beautiful Lori played to perfection by Kate Beckinsale. He lives a mundane life in "The Colony" until one night he goes to "Rekall"; a company that sells fabricated memories for a fee. Things go haywire when Quaid suddenly gets involved in a case of mistaken identity or is he?
I liked this movie not just for the revisionist take from the original 90s film but also for its effort in trying to be as socially relevant as possible. This new version removes the otherworldly element of space travel and confines the story to Earth. In the original short story and subsequently the Arnie movie, Quaid's story takes him from Earth and brings him to Mars. The new movie however takes that story beat and turns Earth and Mars into the "United Federation of Britain" and "The Colony" respectively.
The new version however focuses on a problem that will probably bite our collective asses in the near future - OVERPOPULATION. Yes it seems like that problem could trigger bigger problems soon. Add to the fact that the world in "Total Recall" is a world ravaged by chemical warfare making it next to impossible to breathe without getting poisoned. You get the picture.
On to the review.
Colin Farrell was good. One good thing I noticed about this remake is the fact that its more believable seeing Farrell jump, kick, punch and shoot people. I'm not saying the Arnie version was bad I'm just saying that Farrell's Quaid looks natural. The more quiet parts of the film tried to focus on Farrell's acting chops which was dry.
The fight scenes were outrageous. He can totally kick ass and look fashionably neat. Even if he gets shot and stabbed towards the end, the guy can still look swag. Wahahahaha!
Kate Beckinsale's role of Lori was originally played by Sharon Stone in the original film. I can distinctly remember Stone being a femme fatale but Beckinsale takes the word to the next level. She's still undercover with the difference being that she's totally jealous of Quaid's position as Cohaagen's second in command in his previous life.
She puts the IT in the "Cold Hard Bitch". She's ruthless and relentless and damn sexy when she does so. Again its another natural fit because she's already worked with director Len Wiseman on the previous "Underworld" movies.
And there's also Jessica Biel who plays the role of... wait, I never head her name. Looked up her name in the film and its Melina. So there as Melina she looks great but not as yummy as before. She's involved in one set piece scene wherein we see her more as a warrior rather than as a damsel-in-distress. Sadly, there's no chemistry between her and Farrell. Even those scenes where they kiss, nada.. Heck I could really say that Farrell had more chemistry with the synthetic robots than on her.
I counted three or four "major scenes" for the film (which we were fortunate enough to catch on IMAX). There was the fight scenes in Recall were we also see John Cho where Doug's memory slowly returns to him...
I loved the set because it's got this old school/ asian zen. The tech used was also pretty impressive if I can say so myself.
The other set piece was the futuristic car chase which made us hope that we get magnetic, flying cars. If possible could they speed up the creation of these cars because that'll totally look awesome. Heck just right now I suddenly have this urge to buy an effing flying car.
Overall, Total Recall is a good movie that's more of a popcorn flick. It's really better than "The Expendables" but not as much of a mindfuck as "Inception".
VERDICT: 8.5/10
Special thanks to Columbia Pictures for the special invites.
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