Screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback, screenstory by Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon and Jon Povill and Kurt Wimmer, inspired by the short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Phillip K. Dick.
Running Time: 118 minutes (1h, 58 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, some sexual content, brief nudity and language).
Distributor: Sony (Columbia Pictures)
Total Recall is one of those '90s films that can't be touched. Well, was of those '90s films that couldn't be touched. Believe me, I've seen it more than once. It was poorly adapted in a way for a long-forgotten television show and now comes this remake headed by the director who brought us the Underworld series. Might I tell you that this is the guy who doesn't yell "Action", but rather "GO!". So you know this is frenetic.
Frenetic in the way that it never slows down, somewhat unlike the original. While this is fine on some occasions, it gets a bit tiring since it doesn't have the time to really develop the characters like they should. Of course, the character the movie mainly focuses on Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), who's tired of the same old routine. Hey, who isn't? Obviously enticed by the ads that promote Rekall, a corporation that provides artificial memories of the life you want to live. Doug decides to give it a go. While getting hooked up to the chair, a Rekall representative finds that Doug is a secret agent (ironic since the memory that would have been implanted was the life of a secret agent). The dude finds himself on the run, the wife he thought he knew (Lori, played by Kate Beckinsale) isn't really his wife and ultimately joins forces with a rebel agent (Jessica Biel) to fight against the URB special forces, all as he tries to recover what's really in his head.
Now, I like the original (I've seen it enough times, however not enough to actually beat how many times I've popped in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on my Blu-ray player), so I guess I could say I was a little worried about how it would turn out. Slightly better than I expected, but even with the breathtaking action set pieces and the visual eye candy (Beckinsale and Biel aside), I still hoped it would take a bit of its time to really develop things a bit further with character and depth. The actors do work as well as they can with the material given to them.
I liked Colin Farrell here. He was very believable in the role previously played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and even unlike the Schwarz himself, Farrell is more relatable since he looks like the ideal everyman instead of that guy with huge biceps. Beckinsale plays crazy well and Biel also acts well alongside Farrell and continues to prove she's the go-to girl for playing tough female roles. Bryan Cranston drops by in the film. Ever since Breaking Bad, he's been in everything now, as does John Cho. It felt like less of a big role and more of a cameo, unfortunately.
As much as I was expecting more depth (at least enough to fully care for what's going on), it wasn't surprising that there wasn't. Len Wiseman helmed this. This is the guy who created the Underworld series, a film series that, like other vampire/werewolf franchises like Twilight, you don't need a lot of brains for. He's also the main reason Kate Beckinsale's in this: she's married to him. You made a wise choice, Len. He, along with the screenwriters, do have some nods to the original film: the big lady and most notably, the three-breasted woman.
Overall, this Total Recall remake is passable. Like I said before, I wish it could have taken its time to really develop these characters, especially since the original film sort of did so, but that's probably asking a little too much. This works well as an action film. Not too much more.
Rating: 6.5/10
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