Total Recall |
  • USA / Canada • 2012 • 118m •    • Directed by: Len Wiseman. • Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bokeem Woodbine, Bill Nighy, John Cho, Will Yun Lee, Milton Barnes, James McGowan, Natalie Lisinska, Michael Therriault, Stephen MacDonald. • Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams.      The devastation of chemical war has divided Earth into two superpowers at the end of the 21st Century-'the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. While the UFB and the Colony struggle for supremacy, a simple factory worker, Doug Quaid, dreams of going to the planet Mars. Tired of his tedious life, Quaid visits Rekall-'a company that implants artificial memories. Rekall employee McClane persuades Quaid to be implanted with memories of a secret agent, rather than with memories of traveling to Mars. When Quaid undergoes a compatibility test for the system and fails, McClane accuses him of being an actual spy. Fearing he may be a secret agent whose cover has just been blown, Quaid quickly finds himself on the run and in search of answers.
|
Trailers:
| Length: | Languages: | Subtitles: |
Review:
Guess what? At the end of a 21st century a global war devastates the earth, leaving much of it uninhabitable. Honest! But, not to worry, for some strange reason both the UK and Australia are OK. Maybe the orchestrator's of the final world war just liked "Neighbours" and "Coronation Street" and felt that destroying the homes of either soap operas would leave them with only re-runs to watch? Or maybe they had holiday homes in both countries? Your guess is as good as mine but there you have it.
Most of the jobs and economic wealth are in the UK. Sorry, I mean "The United Federation of Britain - UFB). This means those poor sods from Australia - sorry I mean The Colony - must travel to the UK each day to mindless and dangerous jobs working in factories making robot policemen that the UK then uses to suppress Australians further. Why? Again who knows. Maybe Coronation Street is more popular than Neighbours?
One of those working stiffs is Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell). He has to travel from Australia to the UK every day on a device known as the the Fall", a "gravity elevator", which travels through the Earth's core between Australia and the UK - very quickly. Sadly, "The Fall" (not to be confused with a rather interesting British indie band) seems to have little purpose but to set things up for a rather standard action sequence in the third act. Handy that.
Not surprisingly, Quaid is rather bored of this commutator run everyday, his equally boring job and one assumes his economic suppression by those evil Brits (who oddly are all American and speak with American accents - as do all of the Australians). So he visits an outfit called Rekall, a company that implants artificial memories. Its owner tells him that he can implant any memory he wants and whatever memory is implanted Quaid will believe he has had and experienced. Now he will have some happy memories while taking that commutator ride every day and screwing robots together that are at the same time part of the cause of his economic repression. Who wouldn't? You? Well, you clearly don't star in a film scripted by Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback who have taken an intriguing short story and idea, originally carefully crafted by Philip K Dick and turned it into the drivel you have been reading about so far. Anyway, back to the plot.
Quaid wants to remember being a spy. Not any old spy mind, but a double agent super spy - as you do. Easy, says Rekall and they make it so - or do they? As he is being injected for his memory implants he discovers he is a super-spy, his memories having been erased, that his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) is also a spy but an evil one set to keep an eye on him by UFB Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston - who camps it up wonderfully and is clearly the only person aware of the nonsense he is in). And so, as they no doubt say in the publicity material somewhere, a journey for one man to discover the truth and fight for justice begins.
So how do I know that Wiseman really wanted to remake Blade Runner? Because "the Colony" is a big budget, faithful and rather convincing re- imaging of Scotts future LA from that movie. Its rather good actually. And makes the first act rather interesting. It thus makes it so much worse when, in the second act we travel to the UK which looks like the UK now - but with the odd hover car. Its boring, flat and so is the script, acting, art direction and directing in this, long, oh so long, section. Not only does it look like a different movie but it looks like Wiseman lost interest in directing it and left it all-up to a poor second unit director to manage. Maybe he did - the lens flare, certainly becomes conspicuous by its absence in this act. And alas the script follows the same pattern. The final act - and return to "the Colony - improves things a little but things never return to the opening acts far better realized conception.
If you must watch this movie then walk out after the first act, go for a bit to eat and at the very most return for the final act. You'll be less disappointed. Alternatively don't go back, but watch the first act, go to Rekall and ask them to implant the memories of a decent second and third act instead. Clearly I couldn't afford that last option - or did I???
Review by Wotan Movies from the Internet Movie Database.
Featurettes:
| Length: | Languages: | Subtitles: |
Off-Site Reviews:
Aug 2 2017, 22:50
Additional Off-Site Reviews:
Movie Database