Total Recall

This is a bit of a reboot from the 1990 movie of the same name starring Arnold  Schwarzenegger and a bit of the original short story from 1966 "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick.
It is the distant future and the world has been scarred by chemical war. The only two places on the planet that are inhabitable is England, now known as the United Federation of Britain and Australia, which is re-named the Colony. While the upper class live in UFB, the poor and worker class live in the Colony. The only way to travel between these two places is a skyscraper sized "train" called The Fall which goes through the Planet. A factory worker, Douglas Quaid, visits Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led. After picking out a spy scenario for himself, things go wrong and he finds himself on the run and in the middle of a major class dispute. But he has to find out what is real and what is a Rekall dream in order to figure out which side he is actually on.

Colin Farrell as Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser
Kate Beckinsale as Lori
Jessica Biel as Melina, a member of the Resistance
Bryan Cranston as Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen
Bokeem Woodbine as Harry, Quaid's "best friend"
Bill Nighy as Matthias Lair, the leader of the Resistance


Who will like this:

If you were a fan of the original movie looking for a "re-make", this is not what you would expect. I thought it would follow more closely to the original short story that it was based on, but that is not the case either. Basically, they took elements of both and made a new movie that has much more political overtones to it and has taken out the trip to Mars that is also present in both the 1990 movie and the short story. I think people who liked movies such as "Minority Report" or "I, Robot" will associate with "Total Recall" as it has that same futuristic thriller vibe to it. It is directed by Len Wiseman, who directed and/or produced pretty much all of the Underworld movies, and his influence is definitely seen throughout this movie.

Phantom Thoughts

If I had to sum up Total Recall in one word, it would be..."eh".
The over the top political statements this movie was trying to make could have been less obvious if they were applied with a sledgehammer to the back of my skull. But hey...that's just me. I'll tell you what I did like. I liked the nods they gave to the original movie. By now, everyone has seen the pictures of the three boobed hooker (played by Kaitlyn Leeb) that makes her appearance in movie form once again. (All three were a prosthetic like in the original, in case you were wondering) A couple of other scenes and mentions were also sprinkled throughout this adaptation of Recall that give ode to the first one.
There were a lot of action sequences. and of course, by "action" I mean Colin Farrell running, explosions, Colin Farrell running, car chases, Colin Farrell running...

This was just a way to pass two hours without staring at a blank wall. Len Wiseman was working with half his Underworld cast, so even he slipped into a comfort zone and directed this thing on auto-pilot. I'm not sure if they cast Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel because they looked similar on purpose, but I would have liked to have seen more of a physical difference between the two characters.

A-not-so-much-of-a-spoiler: The ending is supposed to, according to Wiseman, be left to the audience member as to whether the entire movie is a Rekall dream or not (see also: Vanilla Sky). However, after watching it and talking to people who have seen it, no one seems to have that question. It is all pretty clear and wrapped up from what we saw. I've heard there's a good chunk of movie that hit the cutting room floor, including a 5 page monologue by  Ethan Hawke who never made it in the final version. Maybe the Blu-Ray will have these scenes put back in, but I have a feeling it will just make it awkward and confusing. It is what it is and should be watched as just a semi-entertaining waste of time.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.