Rent Total Recall (2012)

Good film ... Probably better than the original - Total Recall review by MP

I wasn't expecting much from this but was pleasantly surprised! Farrell is very good, an doesn't pretend he is Arnie!

Enough action and twists to keep everyone entertained. Highly enjoyable!

An unfairly dismissed futuristic thriller - Total Recall review by WS

I suspect the reason many people dislike this film is because they consider it a form of blasphemy to remake the original. For my part, I have little time for this sort of fundamentalism, especially when the "definitive" version with Arnold Schwarzenegger was itself only a very loose adaptation of the source material, a story called "We Can Remember It For Your Wholesale"!

Colin Farrell acquits himself well as a generic Hollywood action hero, the pace is almost unrelentingly fast with no wasted scenes, it has astounding chase sequences and fantastic set design and visual effects. It parts company with the 1990 version in several ways, including being somewhat more restrained in its portrayal of graphic violence, and there being no mutants!

I accept the structure is conventional, that some aspects of the plot make little sense, or that it owes an obvious debt to Blade Runner. It is not very cerebral but if you approach it as a futuristic thriller rather than science-fiction it's a very good example of its type.

Worthy Remake - Total Recall review by GI

This is a nifty reinterpretation of Philip K. Dick's original novel and best enjoyed without making too many comparisons to the 1990 version directed by Paul Verhoeven. That film has a big fanbase and had a tongue-in-cheek originality and style to it whereas this newer version goes for more visual science fiction tropes. There is clear homage to Blade Runner (1982) in the images of a dystopian future world and the influence of Bourne & Bond is all over the action sequences. In the late 21st Century much of the Earth is uninhabitable and humanity is crammed into New Britain or The Colony (basically Australia). Humble factory worker Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) and his beautiful wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) live in New Britain and Doug commutes to the Colony via the 'Fall', a massive transport that passes through the Earth's core each day taking workers back and forth. Feeling life has more to offer he attempts to take a virtual holiday via a memory implant but this goes wrong and Doug begins to believe he's really a former intelligence agent who worked for corrupt Governor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) but has since joined a rebellion led by Mathias (Bill Nighy). For reasons he cannot fathom his memory has been wiped but of course it could all be a dream! Story wise the plot is identical to the 1990 film more or less although this film stays on Earth and there are no trips to Mars, in that sense it's closer to the original novel. There are more superb effects and the world of the future is impressively recreated with great vehicles (and a superbly executed futuristic car chase). The fights scenes are violent and fast although this is a less bloody film than the former one. Beckinsale is excellent as a murderous baddie and Farrell does well as the hero. This film has panache and it's really enjoyable with some neat sci-fi ideas. Don't dismiss this because you love the Schwarzenegger film this deserves to be appreciated. There's an extended director's cut available that adds some distinct clues to whether the plot is real of imagined so worth checking out.