Total Recall

In the dystopian future, a war-ravaged Earth is divided into the dominant United Federation of Britain and the independent Colony. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is a Colony resident who works on an assembly line in the UFB. Bored with his job, Quaid decides to pay a visit to Rekall, a fantasy fulfillment firm that implants desirable memories. But before Doug can live out his spy fantasy, Rekall makes a shocking discovery: he actually is a spy with altered memories. As the bewildered amnesiac attempts to piece his identity together, he comes into conflict with the forces of UFB Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), including his very own wife.

Len Wiseman’s remake of Paul Verhoeven’s iconic 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle does its best to tonally distance itself from the original while remaining substantively faithful. While much of the plot remains the same, gone are the body-dwelling Kuato (he’s replaced by a more sensible rebel leader played by Bill Nighy) and a lot of the cheesiness. However, the 2012 version also sacrifices some of the ambiguity and intrigue over what is actually happening in favor of a more straightforward sci-fi action romp.

Wiseman’s film has a lot going for it visually. It takes stylistic cues from everything from Judge Dredd to I Robot. The action sequences, which include hovercar chases, explosions, and zero-gravity fisticuffs, are suspenseful, and the film sustains a quick pace. Though Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) is only credited as a writer for this project, some of the combat seems to bear his trademark style.

On the other side of the camera, Farrell makes for both a more credible Quaid (a blue-collar everyman) than Ahnold ever did. Of course, he’s also less credible as a highly skilled superspy, but then again, a good agent wouldn’t appear to be a threat. Kate Beckinsale’s Lori combines two of the original film’s roles (sleeper agent posing as a wife and ruthless, bloodthirsty rival) and does so quite well: she’s tough, utterly implacable, and a little bit scary. Contrastingly, Cranston’s Cohaagen is more of an urbane malevolence. He delivers lines well enough, but he doesn’t bring a convincing presence to a fight scene. Rounding out the primary cast is Jessica Biel as a resistance fighter that Quaid dreams about. She’s more likeable here than in most of her film outings and is far more than a token love interest.

Where the film suffers is in its predictability. Verhoven’s film walked a fine line between the goings-on actually happening and the goings-on being part of Quaid’s fantasy. How much he knew about what was happening added a layer of complexity. In Wiseman’s version, there is a scene where a character tries to convince Quaid/Houser that he’s still back at Rekall, but it doesn’t convince the audience any more than it does him. Still, Total Recall is quite decent as remakes go. At the very least, it could have been a lot worse.

7.5/10