Review: Total Recall (2012) - Len Wiseman

"If I'm not me, then who the hell am I?"

          I didn’t grow up on the 1990 version of this film, and I’ve only ever seen in it parts so I won’t be comparing the two films, I will instead be judging this film solely on its own merits and flaws, I might do a comparison of the two if I watch the original one or if people ask for it. So let’s start with the basic plot, in a dystopian future: a factory worker, who’s happily married, feels like there’s something missing in his life, so he goes to Rekall to have artificial memories implanted into his head, to make him think he’s a more exciting person, however once the memory implantation starts all hell breaks loose and the machine triggers memories of another life and the movie then becomes one long chase scene as the main protagonist tries to discover who he really is an unlock the secrets inside his own brain.

          Colin Farrell is great in this role as the dual character of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser its one of his better roles in my opinion and he plays the character quiet believably. Kate Beckinsale is great as Lori as a UFB undercover agent posing as Douglas Quaid’s wife. Then the main cast is rounded off nicely by Jessica Biel playing Melina a member of the resistance and Carl Hauser’s love interest. The rest of the cast are brilliant with Bryan Cranston as the corrupt and ruthless Chancellor of the United Federation of Britain Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen and Bill Nighy as Matthias Lair, the leader of the Resistance. As you can tell by the character’s this isn’t a typical sci-fi film and instead in my opinion uses it as a medium to tell a much deeper social and political movie along the likes of 1984, but I could be reading into the film a bit much as I personally found the similarities striking and obvious.

          Maybe expanding on the political landscape will help explain this film a bit more, we learn that most of the world has been destroyed by a global war leaving only the United Federation of Britain ((UFB) (Britain and a few surrounding countries)) as well as The Colony (Australia) inhabitable, making space, both to live in and work in an extremely valuable and rare commodity. Workers live in The Colony and work in the UFB each day via The Fall (a gravity elevator/shuttle/train like system that transports people between the UFB and the Colony through the centre of the Earth). So this creates a two tier society with residents of the UFB being affluent and well off and ruling the workers of the Colony. This situation then gives rise to the rebellion who’s plan is to separate the Colony from the UFB, which does sound very Orwellian but as I’m not familiar with the 1990 movie or the original short story this was based on I can’t say if that’s the intent of the source material or this adaption’s own spin on it.

          Let’s talk about the graphics and visuals. In short their stunning, the film feel like it takes place in the same universe as Minority Report (2002) (another Philip K. Dick, short story adaptation) which I like and feel is a nod to their shared origins. The world of the film also looks and feels like it’s lived in, as in the buildings are run down, the props looks old and busted like they should if this world was real.

          People have criticised this film and I feel most of that comes from people who were more attached to the 90’s version of the film will judge this film more harshly than others who are new to it. One of the biggest complaints was the lack of character development, which I can justify by the fact the main character of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser is already a developed character, he just doesn’t know it, due to being brainwashed. I’d nearly go as far to relate his arch to that of Guy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, where the character doesn’t grow so much as our understanding of the character’s past does instead.

          So to wrap things up, I would recommend you check this movie out, it’s a great action sci-fi film and can certainly be enjoyed on that level alone, but if you like to explore the deeper socio-political message like I did you’ll find something deeper to this film. So I would give this film a 8/10, a great action movie, with more to it than meets the eye.