Totall Recall,The Remake
Meet Quaid, the bored worker in a futuristic company who decides to spice his life by using the services of a company called Total Rekall that creates fall memories in your brain. The problem is that after doing so Quaid is revealed that he is already living a made up life. Everything he knows is a lie. Looking for answers will take him into a frantic race that will probably stop after serious harm is done (harm to him).
indcReally, after twenty two years you would expect something better and this Total Recall remake is better only in some minor aspects, two actually. The first is that is closer to the events depicted in the novel on which the movie was based and the second is the special effect that are better this time. That's it.
indcReally, after twenty two years you would expect something better and this Total Recall remake is better only in some minor aspects, two actually. The first is that is closer to the events depicted in the novel on which the movie was based and the second is the special effect that are better this time. That's it.
Collin Farrell is the star (apparently he loves remakes: he was already in Fright Night) and though his performance is good is far from convincing. Without Schwarzenegger being a good actor, his performance is better thatn Farrell's. Colin looks good at the fight scenes with Kate Beckinsale, the agent that pretends to be his wife, and also when he appears as the tired factory employee. Jessica Biel as Quaid' s love interest does not really stand out and is a bit disappointing.
After the special effects and the filmography in general, the screenplay is the best of this movie. The idea of this company (here called Total Rekall) with the technology to recreate other realities by altering your memories a little is not new. However, the fact that by using their services someone discovers his real life ia actually a lie is new and begins a desperate quest to recover his identity...well tha is an interesting twist.
The first Total Recall is still superior due not to the effects which are inferior compared to the 2012 remake but to its scope which was larger. In this original version Quaid traveled to Mars and discovers that the population of the planet is suffering due to the machinations of the company that erased his memory in the first place. At the end he discover that company's biggest secret: an alien construction in Mars that if activated could alter the Martian atmosphere so it could become "breathable" by humans.
The remake contains nods to the original and the ones who have watched it will not have any trouble discovering what they are. Still effects and everything this remake is a decent film to watch a Sunday afternoon when you have nothing better to do. Of course, if you have the 1992 version, watch that one.
Three stars out of five.
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