Movie Review: Total Recall (2012)

'What is real and what is Recall?'

It's safe to say that Summer 2012 at the cinema box office has been a real good time, providing us with everything from Superhero reboots to vulgar and offensive cuddly teddy bears. Summer is now drawing to a close and it will soon be time to bring out the gloves and hats from the bottom of my wardrobe. But beforehand Hollywood has decided to conclude the summer with a remake to one of my favourite flicks, attempting to conclude this already stellar summer season on a high note.

Fan's of the original film will be thankful to know that this new iteration most certainly ain't a train-wreck. Scattered throughout the film are some really nice, clever throwbacks and references to the original 90's classic, which will surely put a rye smile on fan's faces. The premise of the story however is mostly the same, those who have seen the original and are somewhat familiar with it will know exactly how the story will play out, whilst those who are newcomers may ultimately be confused and wonder what the hell is going on.

There's no new twists or surprises for fans to look forward to but in the films defence the story does present a few new elements that are rather interesting. The plot no longer centres around Mars, in fact there is no Mars, just Earth and a gravity lift between Britain and Australia known as 'the fall'. Not to spoil much but its a rather original concept (definitely the most original idea in the Movie)  but really could have been fleshed out a bit more to make this flick something really special. 'The Fall' could have presented some real political dilemmas within the films plot, however these are never fully realised or developed, instead 'The Fall' only serves the purpose of playing out the original films plot, which is a real shame.

The environments within the movie look really cool, but borrow rather heavily from the likes of Blade Runner, Minority Report and I'Robot. The people within the universe they have created seem if anything bland and lifeless, gone are the crazy mutants of the first movie (except one), though this could have something to do with the Earth setting, and in general gone are the crazy set pieces and 'WTF' moments of the first film. However its not just the supporting characters that could have done with some development, its the protagonists as well, they just seem so bland and uninteresting to the point that your not really interested in what they are doing or indeed if they succeed in their plans.
 What can't be faulted however is the films action sequences, most of them are pretty well thought out, in particular I enjoyed the first fight between Quaid (Colin Farrell) and his Wife (Kate Beckinsdale) as well as a really good Car chase scene halfway through the movie.

To conclude, its a decent Sci-Fi flick, and worth at least a watch, fans will appreciate the references and the action sequences, but may find the lack of character and story predictability a little harder to swallow. Newcomers on the other hand will likely love this and enjoy every second of it. If anything I hope it helps in attracting some new interest in the original film that I would consider a masterpiece.

I give Total Recall a 6/10