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Len
Wiseman’s remake of
Total Recall isn’t a
remake. It’s more of
an interpretation
loosely based on the
original. There are
nods to the original
movie, but they’re
not exactly nods.
They’re more like
brief finger points
and then a dead
sprint away from the
scene. That being
said, I still like
this Total Recall
better than the
original. It’s
smarter, tied into
political themes,
and it’s a
tremendous action
movie.
After the world
essentially
destroyed itself
with chemical
warfare, only two
areas are
inhabitable on
Earth- The United
Federation of
Britain and The
Colony (Australia.)
It’s a situation of
haves and have-nots.
The Colony is
plagued by poverty
while The United
Federation of
Britain is filled
with rich people,
resources, and
weapons. The UFB
oppresses the Colony
with the only way to
travel between the
two countries- a
tube through the
middle of the Earth
known as ‘the fall.’
Douglas Quaid is a
factory worker who
is one of the
oppressed. He has a
happy home life with
his wife Lori, but
he’s tired of
everything else
surrounding his
life. He travels
through the fall
everyday to the UFB
to work in a factory
and he’s sick of the
routine. He decides
to spice things up
by implanting some
memories into his
head with Rekall.
Rekall is the
implantation of
memories directly
into the brain by
machine. The only
catch is you can’t
have already
experienced what
you’re implanting
otherwise your mind
will pop and you’ll
die. At Rekall,
Douglas decides that
he’s going to get
the memory of him
being a spy. In the
safety scan before
doing the procedure,
it’s revealed that
Douglas was in fact
a spy and he’s
stormed by police.
Douglas takes down
everyone in the room
and realizes
everything that he
thought he knew
isn’t real. He finds
out his wife isn’t
actually his wife
and is out to kill
him, he begins an
all-out flee from
the police and all
of the other forces
of the UFB.
This movie isn’t
even in the same
vicinity of the
original Total
Recall. That’s
actually a good
thing. I don’t think
it’s altogether
possible to make a
reasonable remake of
an Arnold
Schwarzenegger movie
if you’re really
trying. Wiseman and
the rest of the
people involved in
making the movie
were wise to step
away from that. It’s
a complex story that
might be a little
too complex at
times, but it’s
still enveloping.
The story is great,
but it’s the action
that makes this
movie great. All of
the giant effects
and stunts teamed
with Collin Farrell
being a badass, make
this movie awesome.
There are still
plenty of negatives
with this version of
Total Recall, but
the action far
outweighs everything
remotely negative
about the movie.
The blu-ray release
of Total Recall
comes bundled with
two discs and a DVD.
The first disc has
the theatrical cut
of the movie, the
extended cut of the
movie, a great audio
commentary by
Wiseman, and an
awesome insight mode
that features a
split-screen
presentation where
you get to watch the
movie with making-of
features at the same
time. Insight and
the commentary are
both excellent
features and they
would have been
enough bonus content
with the release.
But there’s also
another disc with
actor features, and
other content that’s
highly watchable as
well.
Total Recall isn’t
the remake that some
fans were hoping
for, in fact it’s
not really a remake
at all. It would
have been better if
this would have been
a loose sequel of
some kind- or even
just a totally
different title
altogether. It could
have been better
than it was, but
it’s still a
thrilling action
movie and an
enjoyable watch.
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