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    Total Recall

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    The 2012 version of “Total Recall” contains none of the intelligence of the original and even on its own merit it’s not a particularly smart movie. At least it partially makes up for it with some decent action and impressive special effects.

    In the future, Earth has been rendered mostly uninhabitable due to chemical warfare. Only two sections of the planet remain amiable to humans: Australia, where the worker-class live, and Northern Europe, reserved for the rich. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) believes himself to be a normal civilian until his memories are given back to him with thanks to “Rekall”, a virtual vacation service. Now on the run, he must expose a sinister plot by a corrupt aristocrat named Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston.)

    This is a remake of the 1990 Paul Verhoeven film, which was loosely based on a story by Philip K. Dick. You’ll find few elements from the book here. It starts off all right, with a clearly established “upper class vs. lower class” storyline and this futuristic, post-apocalyptic setting. Our main character is sympathetic and seeing him piece together his identity is entertaining. The film uses modern-day special effects to add other cool science fiction elements like a robotic police force and an evolution of cell phones that’s quite ingenious.

    What will frustrate you are the crowbarred references to the original film, like a brief scene where we see a three-breasted woman. She’s out of place here and only included because hey, remember her from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? I know I do! There are no mutants in this film so we have to believe that this is just a coincidental, random birth defect or that this woman just wanted attention to much that she got plastic surgery to give herself a third boob. How she’d afford this in the slums of Australia, I don’t know. Other similar references should have been excised to give us more character development.

    When it comes to the original elements, the non-science (that’s to say the nonsensical science) begins from the opening crawl and keeps going throughout. Most offensive to your brain is going to be the “Fall” a tunnel that allows people to quickly travel from Europe to Australia by passing through the center of the Earth. At least it’s introduced right from the start so you know to expect stupid science throughout, but still. An elevator shaft through the planet? The movie’s lack of brains is counterbalanced, at least a little bit with cool special effects and inventive action scenes. I love seeing Kate Beckinsale in any kind of fantastical scenario so seeing her among murderous robots is entertaining to me. If there’s one thing the movie does get right consistently, it’s the action. On the level of pure spectacle, the movie really does work well.

    Often “Total Recall” degenerates into pure action film cliché nonsense. I didn’t even touch on Bryan Cranston’s character due to the fact that he’s one-dimensional. Evil for the sake of evil eh? Well, this movie’s not well cerebral in the least, so why put effort into the villain? For all of the silly and unexplainable moments on a pure “turn off your brain and enjoy this” level, there are quite a few thrills and some genuinely good action moments. “Total Recall” isn’t a very smart movie but if you want dumb entertainment, it delivers the goods. (Extended Version on Blu-ray, June 7, 2013)

    5
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    adamwatchesmovies@  7.6.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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