Total Recall : Mémoires programmées

When I heard the news that Total Recall was being remade, I was just as disappointed as most were out there. However, I never hate a film based on such a simple principle. Before the release, I was simply curious as to what direction they were going to take with this film.

I always rate a film on two scales: The technical aspects (an objective scale), and if I actually liked it (subjective scale). I'm pretty forgiving with science fiction films so I'll keep my review as objective as possible.

Pros: The futuristic world that has been imagined for this film was well designed. Visually, the film is stunning. If you're the type that reads into the quirky inventions you see on screen, this film is littered with them.

There were plenty of action sequences, and most of the time the film gave us eye candy that we haven't seen before. It seemed as though a general theme in the film (besides "questioning what's real") was constant play with gravity. This may have been influenced by inception, but the world turns upside down a few times, and it's visually interesting.

Cons: The plot. It was there, but not as deep as you would hope for a "Total Recall" remake. There were a few cool things thrown in there, but the plot was definitely not the strong point of the film.

The action sequences. There were a lot of positive aspects to all the action, but the movie seemed to rely too heavily on it. The movie came off as one giant chase scene, and it became slightly repetitive after a while. If you like a little meat on your plot's backbone, you may want to lower your expectations a little bit before seeing this one.

Conclusion: Try not to think of this film as a literal remake of the original. Think of it as analogous to a band doing a cover of someone else's song... in a very different style. It lifts the ideas from the original film, and written source material, but takes a different spin on it.

In all, I liked it. I had my quips, but it's a movie that I gave a lot of forgiveness. From what I recall, it wasn't a TOTAL mess.

What makes up who we are? Are we the result of our past experiences and memories or does our identity stem from something much deeper? These are questions that the 2012 remake of the classic action film "Total Recall" could have delved into. What we have instead is a showcase of the best and worst of modern science fiction film making. It is Definitely a product of 2012 as much as the original was a product of the early 90s.

The aforementioned themes are only teased but never developed in this intense tale of on man's quest to uncover the truth of his identity and past. In a vastly overcrowded, class segregated future, everyman Douglas Quaid is haunted by dreams of being a secret agent on the run. Convinced that these are repressed fantasies brought on by his monotonous life assembling security automatons (which are like Cyber Stormtroopers) Quaid visits this place called "Rekall"; Rekall claims to implant fake but realistic fantasies into one's mind. So he gets a fantasy of being a double agent implanted. Suddenly, its discovered that he already has memories of being an agent: meaning he actually is an agent with his memory erased. A swat team busts in for some reason and he dispatches them to some beautiful camera camera pans. What follows is "Kurt Wimmer's 'Salt: dystopian future edition - minus Angelina Jolie" (surprise surprise, this movie is also written by Wimmer) with Quaid's wife turning out to be a psychopathic killer, his past a complete sham and his grip on that fine line between reality and fantasy slowly slipping. In the background lies a dastardly plot by a rich chancellor involving the poor dissidents of the overcrowded Colony and the leader of an underground resistance.

The most striking feature of Total Recall would be the stunning vision of this overcrowded future. Floating buildings to make up for scarce land, a country confused by its melting pot of cultures, cyborg police, hover cars, it is amazing. This is a future that seems very real judging from our current world: Strict class segregation taken to the extreme. The dichotomy in the design between the rich and elite United Federation of Britain and The ramshackle Colony is beautifully rendered thanks to the amazing production design headed by Patrick Tatopoulos (the guy who worked on Independence Day, Starship Troopers and Dark city).

A pity that the rest of the movie is fairly typical of modern day chase thrillers. Compared to the original Total Recall film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this remake has Less twists, a less ambiguous ending and lacks the cynical dark humor that made the original so memorable. Instead of keeping it ambiguous as to whether the events unfolding are real or part of Quaid's implanted fantasy, this remake spoils its own mystery for the audience.

Director Len Wiseman brings in all that is good and bad in modern day film making into this movie. He shoots Total Recall with an over reliance on shaky cam and lens flare, almost like a "Paul Greengrass meets J.J Abrams". Think Bourne Supremacy with the visual style of the 2009 Star Trek film. The future is epilepsy inducing, we get it; and sometimes this really distracts from the tip top designs.

The cast is basically a reunion of mist actors that were in Len Wiseman's Underworld franchise. They do an excellent job with the acting and chemistry but the good actors like Bill Nighly felt under utilised. Only Kate Beckinsale was able to truly shine playing Quaid's wife-turned-assassin. Quaid himself is played by Colin Ferrel and is perhaps the only improvement this remake boasts over the original. Schwarzenegger's Quaid was the quintessential action hero but Ferrel's portrayal of the character had a greater sense of peril: he looks nothing like an action hero and this makes his transformation from everyman to savior of the downtrodden all the more powerful.

Whether one finds this a good movie or not depends on whether one can accept the modern trends of science fiction film making. It is the same plot as the original with all the "1990s" elements taken out and replaced with "2012" elements. Art Aficionados will be impressed by the overall look, style and camera-work showcased here. Those looking for a deep meaningful dive into the nature of human identity or even those looking for clever twists or smart dialogue will be let down. Take away the visuals and it's a rather generic, straight forward modern chase thriller.

Fond memories of Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall" kept coming back while watching this remake. Arnold Schwarzenegger's screen presence was also an added plus in the 1990 film, as well as the one-liners, Mars and of course heaps of bloody violence. If you've seen the original, then you know how it goes.

Len Wiseman's remake of the same name replaces Arnold with Colin Farrell, in his first lead action role in years, while eliminating Mars as the backdrop of the action and replacing it with an overpopulated Earth where transportation from one corner to another occurs, literally, straight through the center of the earth. The rugged subterranean mazes of the red planet is replaced with dizzying skyscrapers and lots of sleek, flying cars, not unlike Philip K. Dick's own "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report".

Farrell can act and is definitely a strong action lead and it shows here, as per the beautiful ladies Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel who both show off brawn over beauty here. Alas, everything is taken way too seriously in this version. I have fonder memories of the Verhoeven/Arnold version where one-liners come post-Arnie-kill. Gone. Certain characters are trimmed or even cut completely from the original. Bryan Cranston's Cohaagen makes me miss Ronny Cox even more, and Bill Nighy's resistance leader doesn't stand out compared to the 1990 film. The best thing the screenwriters did is to combine Sharon Stone's and Michael Ironside's characters from the 1990 film into one, and as portrayed by Kate Beckinsale, she kicks serious ass here.

The script is a near complete rehash of the original, save for the setting and the final act of the film. The scene where Bokeem Woodbine's character tries to convince Quaid (Farrell) where he's still in a dream is certainly a standout scene which was very well done. Alas, the majority of the movie is laced with action sequences and sensational special effects (seriously, this is CGI porn) that may get this film a nomination for Best Visual Effects this year. No kidding. While the editing is fast-paced and the cinematography sleek (with a little too much lens flare ala J. J. Abrams), the music score by Harry Gregson- Williams was kind of bland in my opinion. It was just there, does its job, and I didn't care. Where's Marco Beltrami; or even for that matter his legendary mentor, the late, great Jerry Goldsmith when you need them?

Director Wiseman has a knack for action sequences ("Underworld", "Die Hard 4") and it shows aplenty here. Sadly the script could've been a whole lot better, but then again, if they had set it on Mars it would've been a shot-for-shot remake with better characters, but still I would've loved to see action on the Red planet once again. The PG-13 rating is justified, and there are indeed little homages to the original, but overall this remake is nothing more than a fast-paced, popcorn munching good waste of time, with some really nice CGI to chew on.

However, I'd rather watch the old one again. Arnie has a much stronger screen presence than Farrell and it is much more ambitious and has more heart than this sleeker, newer one.

Overall rating: 53%

It is seldom so that a remake is better than its original and then it is usually connected to film quality, low budget etc (e.g. I am not keen on watching black-and-white mono-films, with some exceptions like Chaplin or Lloyd). In this case, the use of state-of-the-art technology does not provide additional value to the storyline; well, Colin Farrell is definitely better than Arnold Schwarzennegger, but Kate Beckinsale vs Sharon Stone - I am not so sure... And casting Bill Nighy for being ca 5 minutes on screen was a total waste of a talented actor. As regards Bryan Cranston, whose character Chancellor Cohaagen is supposed to be harsh and ruthless - he is not convincing, looks like an average top politician. Sci-fi equipment and element fill more time than humans and the ending is also predictable.

In other words, cinemas-TV-Internet are full of similar and far better movies. I would prefer Totall Recall 1990 as well.

So what made them decide to remake the great 1990 sci-fi classic? No answer. This year's "Total Recall" remake is an entertaining sci-fi flick with lots of mindless action, extraordinary sets, but redundant. Its visual effects are energetic and watching them on the wide screen is a pleasure but that can't hide the fact that it has a convoluted plot and decent performances by the actors.

Colin Farrell replaces the Governator as the lead character here Douglas Quaid. World War III has caused most of Earth uninhabitable and only two territories exist, the United Federation of Britain (UFB) and the Colony (Australia); there is no Mars in this film although it was mentioned in one occasion. Quaid lives in the Colony and every day he uses this elevator service called "The Fall" to get to work in the UFB. One day, he decides to visit Rekall, a place where they implant memories into your mind. The police arrive and Quaid escapes. Later on, everything in his world turns upside down. He then gets involved in a series of action sequences filled with mind-blowing special effects to discover his true identity.

Let's start with the good things. The visual effects are just marvelous. The buildings, cities, and everything was just jaw-dropping. It's full of energy. Everything that is part of the set is just so energetic and bright. This is certainly a triumph over the remake. And the action sequences come along with the visual effects. You'll be satisfied with the action sequences as there are more than enough presented here. You have action all the time and you can only catch a short break before explosions run all over the screen again.

Like most Philip K. Dick's stories, it's science-fiction and set in the future. So, we expect some rad futuristic technology in this film. And it does not disappoint. A lift that takes you half around the world in just 20 minutes. Flying cars that use some magnetic force or something (I'm not good at science). Handphones that are integrated into your very hand (for video calling, all you have to do is put your hand on any solid like glass or mirrors). This is all great stuff. For those who love seeing futuristic items, this movie offers some great inventions.

However, the actors' performances aren't all that great. Colin Farrell is a great actor but he hasn't got the power yet to head an action film. He ain't Arnold Swarzchnegger. A lead in an action film may not be his strongest point but I'm sure he can improve that in a couple of years. Also, Kate Beckinsale gave a stunning performance. She portrayed Lori maliciously. However, Jessica Biel drove a mediocre performance as Melina, the good girl. Her dialogue delivery was typical and she gave a normal performance. The others did decent performances and didn't give anything special.

The plot is definitely NOT one of the biggest points for this film. It doesn't change much with the original plot. I like how they added some finishing touches and gave some extra bits to this one. But not all of the scenes work. In fact, sometimes I get confused on what is actually happening in the film. Some of the twists work but some of them just leave me confused. Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? Maybe that's part of the movie experience as the main character is in a desperate search for needs but for me, that just makes it confusing.

Oh yeah! If you're taking your kids to watch this film, watch out! There's one particular scene where it is inappropriate. Yep!

All in all, "Total Recall" is a fun and energetic sci-fi film that is easily forgettable. It's full of action sequences, mind-blowing visual effects, impressive fictional inventions, and fascinating sets. It's full of energy but is downed by some mediocre performances and unclear plot. Overall, it is good but easily forgettable.

Rating: 6/10

Final Verdict: This "Total Recall" remake is an energetic sci-fi effort filled with endless action, pleasing visual effects, and cool fictional inventions that is easily forgettable.