Nerdy Rotten Scoundrel: Film Review - TOTAL RECALL ★★½☆☆☆

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Film Review - TOTAL RECALL ★★½☆☆☆

Has it really been 22 years since Arnold Schwarzenegger 'got his ass to Mars' in the original Total Recall? Yes it has, your memory is intact. Based on Philip K. Dick's short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, the 1990 film directed by Paul Verhoeven strayed away a bit from the source material, but brought a lot of muscle, some timeless campy one-liners, a three-breasted Martian prostitute, Kuato, and even offered us a peek at a young Sharon Stone early in her career.

So let's flash forward to 2012, we are still in our Golden Age of the remake, redux, and reboot, so let's welcome Total Recall up to the plate. This darker gritty remake directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard), excises the Martian aspects of the original, and stars Colin Farrell who steps into the big Schwarzeneggarian shoes of Douglas Quaid.

The plot follows many of the same beats we have seen before, but with lavish expensive special effects, quick cutting chase scenes, hard hitting hand-to-hand fights, heavy nods in production design to Blade Runner and Star Wars, and a healthy helping of J.J. Abrams-style ice blue lens flare for good measure. Not all of this is necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on how you like your Total Recall served.

In a nutshell, Douglas Quaid, an everyman assembly line worker married to the stunning Lori (Kate Beckinsale), yearns to add a little more excitement to his mundane married life in a environmentally ravaged future world. Welcome to Rekall, a company that can implant fabricated memories into the brain and let you live out your fantasies as if they were your very own. For Quaid, the Rekall experience happens to offset the effects of a total mind wipe he had. The ride in the light up brain chair partially shell shocks him back to remembering his former self, who happens to be the highly trained government assassin known as Hauser.

Quaid learns the hard way the entire life he thought he had lived has been an imprinted lie. His lovely wife isn't really his wife, but rather a lovely undercover agent who not only kicks major ass, but is extremely well trained with various firearms. Lori, along with a bunch of government stormtroopers, set their sights on taking down Quaid on the orders of Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Plot twists of identity swiftly switch back and forth as Quaid seeks the truth regarding what is real what is not. Aided by Melina, a tough as nails rebel he knew in his former life (played by Jessica Biel), he becomes the unwitting key to bringing down the ultimate diabolical plans of Cohaagen for world domination.

Recall boasts impressive set pieces, top notch production value, pricey visual effects, and loud lightning fast action sequences. Although the film's setting in a rain soaked above-the-ground world complete with flying cars sometimes screams Blade Runner, it's worth noting that both films are based on the work of Philip K. Dick. Director Len Wiseman is a solid go-to guy for films like this. He knows how to construct, execute, and deliver well paced big screen eye candy. With the Underworld franchise firmly notched on his belt (two as director, credited writer on all four films), as well as the love it or hate it Live Free or Die Hard, Wiseman knows how to give an audience a loud frenzied film with harsh bloodless violence, while escaping with a PG-13 rating.

The cast is fine in the straightforward roles they are given, as this is a no-nonsense sci-fi romp with little tolerance for lighthearted fare. Colin Farrell is no Schwarzenegger here, nor should he be, and amps up Quaid's paranoia as necessary. Bryan Cranston and Bill Nighy have extended cameos that add some weight to the cast in the third act, but it's mostly a three ring spotlight for Farrell, Beckinsale, and Biel. They deliver the necessary push to the rock 'em sock 'em cat and mouse chase plot.

But lets get to Kate Beckinsale, who steals the show in the dual role of the sexy faux wife and the relentless huntress for most of the film. All those years in the black latex catsuit kicking ass and wielding all sorts of heavy artillery as the vampire Selene in the Underworld films have paid off here. She lights up the screen as Quaid's unstoppable pursuer. She manages to hand both Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel their asses in hand to hand combat all while twisting her villain's mustache and maintaining her poise, perfectly blown-out mane of hair, and smokey eye makeup. It probably doesn't hurt that she is married to director Wiseman, but besides the fact that Beckinsale is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, she has never been more fun to watch while tearing and shooting up the scenery.

The film is straight forward and takes its plot dead set serious. The Paul Verhoeven infused camp from the original film has been gutted, practically to a fault if you really have affection for the Arnold Classic. While Recall is intense at times, delivers crowd pleasing shoot-outs, high octane chases, and multiple plot twists, it sacrifices all the fun that was the soul of the original by playing it so serious. Also for fans of the original (count me in), you may wish your pre-knowledge of all the meaty identity plot twists could have been wiped out in your own Rekall session. All the great turnarounds, double crosses and who's who moments are sadly of no surprise in the remake since both versions share the same whodunnit outline.

Had this Recall been the first stab at Dick's short story, there would be more fun to report and less to hold this version up against. While 2.0 has its own hi-tech merits, and I sat back freely and enjoyed the ride, it trades charm for grit. The shadow this reboot stands in, even 22 years later, remains a tough one to step out from, and perhaps your fond memories are best left alone.