Total Recall Review

You can forget about getting your ass to Mars because this version of Total Recall is set solely on Earth, a dystopian and post-chemical warfare future where there are only two areas of the world left inhabited by humans (a renamed Britain and Australia, but strangely a Britain where only Kate Beckinsale’s character has an English accent).

Based on both the Philip K. Dick short story and the 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Paul Verhoeven, this retelling of Total Recall follows everyman Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) whose excursion to  memory implant agency Rekall unleashes hell on him.

Quaid learns he is really Hauser, a double agent whose espionage mission against the resistance (led by Bill Nighy, sadly without a mutant baby torso) has apparently led him to switch sides from serving the nefarious chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Hunted by his “wife” Lori (Beckinsale, who is also the wife of the film’s director, Len Wiseman), Quaid/Hauser gets help from resistance member and former flame Melina (Jessica Biel).

While it has a few nods to the 1990 film, this Total Recall brings nothing new to the table, no clever spin or unique take on the story's premise. Love it or hate it, the original movie at least had personality thanks to its absurd sense of humor. It was a truly excessive movie – not the least of all in its violence – but this Total Recall is like a declawed animal. Anything that could have made this version distinct simply isn’t present.

That’s a shame, too, given the vulnerability and much-needed humanity Farrell brings to the proceedings. He’s the best thing in the film besides the practical sets that keep it from being yet another genre film with an entirely CG environment. Beckinsale appears to be enjoying herself as the film’s villainess -- a role that essentially combines the Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside characters from the original film -- but she’s just mere eye candy and a cipher. Also lacking in dimension but blessed with beauty is Biel's Melina, while Cranston's Cohaagen doesn't possess the malevolent glee that made Ronny Cox’s villain fun.

Although executed with technical proficiency, this remake of Total Recall is, ironically given its narrative, without any true identity of its own. It’s a completely serviceable, by-the-numbers action thriller to watch on a plane or while trying to fall asleep with the TV on, but it’s all rather joyless despite its incessant action set-pieces. It’s like a cover song by a decent, but forgettable tribute band. Their rendition hits all the proper notes, but lacks soul.

Source : ign[dot]com