Total Recall

A passable remake, adapted to today’s hurried times. Perfect craftsmanship, Wiseman lays action scene upon action scene on the viewer and the shots of his wife (Kate Beckinsale) are filmed with such care that it’s a pleasure to watch. Also, she’s a thoroughbred terminator, but with a smile to fall in love with your dying breath. Poor old Colin Farrell doesn’t have much acting to do, but he tries hard. Bryan Cranston is fine too. The visual side of the movie is superb. A combination of Blade Runner and Minority Report, with a pinch of Star Wars. It’s over the top and gets away with it. It’s fantasy, after all, isn’t it? ;) If I’m not me, then who the hell am I? (16/08/2012)

I was expecting a new version of a Dick’s story, but what I got was an excruciatingly boring cover version of a great film. Aside from the good visual effects and the idea of dusting off the "good old" idea of displacing the inconvenient inhabitants of Great Britain to Australia, nothing in the new Total Recall impressed me at all. This bland story full of stupidities and clichés, which doesn't manage to do anything more imaginative than quoting from the original, is not even close to Verhoeven's bloody sci-fi anecdote. Colin Farrell is awkward, Bill Nighy underused, the female characters useless. Just like this whole movie. Perhaps one thing worked - watching it made me want to watch all the much better films it had ripped off again. (30/12/2012)

Len Wiseman seemingly had all the trump cards in his hands - a well-known and successful book, stars with a wide acting range, a big budget, and new film technology. Despite all of this, he not only failed to surpass Verhoeven's version but didn't even come close to it. And to be honest, I was never even particularly intrigued by the old version; Verhoeven turned an interesting story about hidden identity and complex conspiracy into a pop spectacle that avoids any deeper thoughts. However, it must be admitted that the Dutch director was successful in what he tried to do. Apart from The Terminator, it is the only film where Arnold's acting is somewhat worth mentioning as Verhoeven managed to extract the best from the physical specimen. His trashy aesthetics were interesting, and he consistently came up with catchy scenes and elements and it was never boring. Wiseman attempted to make an action blockbuster but blatantly parasites his predecessor, clinging too much to proven genre formulas, and in a flood of unrealistic action and bombastic spectacle, he fails to surprise or impress. He can't even properly sell his characters. In the end, another typical film came out of his workshop with grand ambitions that it couldn't fulfill. Overall impression: 25%. (21/04/2018)

The original doesn't suit me by anything, so the reconciliatory three stars are a small victory for the new Total Recall. It's pleasing that they omitted Mars and put more emphasis on the versatile wife, but unnecessary logical errors and slightly excessive runtime are annoying. Wiseman saves a lot of things with action (led by the premature climax of the movie in the form of a chase in elevators) and the reborn Kate Beckinsale helps him the most. However, the courage of the producers to pour so many dollars into this particular vision remains inexplicable. (12/09/2012)

The visually arresting first half will tickle the heart of any sci-fi fan. And it doesn't matter that the Asian architecture, the perpetual rain and parakeets are a rip-off of Blade Runner, and the chases with hoverboards are a rip-off of Minority Report. But then, as the minutes tick by, the film makes it clear that the script was written by the infamous Kurt Wimmer, a man with no talent and no creative intelligence, so the mounting annoying clichés and situations like those from the most subpar B-movies quickly cool down the initial enthusiasm. Where the old Total Recall clearly wiped its ass with clichéd Hollywood and was engaging in its ambiguous answer to what is truth and what is a dream, Wiseman's film is dull and woefully predictable. It's like Kate Beckinsale's "terminator" character: visually appealing and energetic, but bluntly direct. (18/08/2012)