I absolutely love the original Total Recall. It is so fun and outrageously violent, I like to think director Paul Verhoven said one day, "Screw it, I'm going mental". Not only that, it had a strong story running through it, adapted from Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". It's pretty much a classic of the action genre, and still extremely popular 22 years after it's release. So of course Hollywood was going to remake it. With Len Wiseman at the helm, this new version at least does try to distance itself from the original, swapping out the more outrageous concepts, such as Mars and prophet Kuato, for more down to out earth themes, such as over population, and the ruling versus the working class. But try as hard as it might, it still can't get out from under the shadow of it's bigger brother.
At the end of the 21st Century, Earth has been laid to waste by chemical warfare, leaving only two territories: the ruling United Federation Of Britain and the working class The Colony, formerly Australia, connected by a gigantic, building sized lift called The Fall. When factory worker Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) grows tired of his normal daily routine, he visits Rekall, a company that implants memories of any experience you desire. Something goes disastrously wrong, leaving Quaid to deal with the fact that he may be a spy. On the run from the government agent posing as his wife (Kate Beckinsale), he discovers he is a vital part in the war between the corrupt government and The Resistance. But who is he working for?
First off, the look of this movie is spectacular, especially the slums of The Colony, which owes a lot to Blade Runner. Wiseman does a good job with the action scenes, of which there are many, really pushing the envelope with each one. And while most modern action movies opt for frenetic camera work to really make the audience feel like they are part of the movie, alot can be said for a somewhat static camera so you actually make out what's going on. One criticism of these scenes is they follow each other too closely, especially in the second act, becoming one long scene and not letting the movie, and the audience, breath. And while alot has being changed to differentiate this version from the original, the movie goes out of it's way to homage it (a three boobed hooker here, a reference to Mars there) that I couldn't help but compare this to the 1990 classic. In fact, story beats, and sometimes entire scenes, are recycled, weakening the movie, making it more of a re-hash than a re-imagining. Also, can someone please talk to directors about over using lens flare? I refuse to see the point of this current annoying and distracting fad.
Colin Farrel does a good job of the reluctant action hero, but we have seen him do far better work. Same with Jessica Biel, as resistance fighter Melina, who just seems to exist to get Quaid from point A to point B. Kate Beckinsale has the most fun as bad ass Lori, throwing herself in to the fight scenes, and overall being an wonderfully bitchy character. Bill Nighy is wasted in an over glorified cameo, but it's Bryan Cranston who steals the show as main bad guy Cohaagen. He owns every scene he's in, playing such a great villain, that all he's really missing is a top hat, black cloak, and mustache to twirl.
If, god forbid, the original Total Recall didn't exist, I would have enjoyed this film alot more. As it is, it pales in comparison. While still an enjoyable movie in it's own right, it tried too hard to cling to the past when it should have tried to make it on it's own.