REEL REVIEWS 
Movie Reviews for Real People
Am I the only person that really hates the lack of imaginations in Hollywood ? It seems like almost every movie made in recent years is a remake.
I don’t understand why studios are remaking beloved classic movies. I thought the remakes of Footloose and True Grit were not improvements on the original, but very similar copies.
That being said, I was excited when I began seeing the trailers for the new Total Recall. I loved the original made in 1990 – directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, and Rachel Ticotin.
The trailer for the new Total Recall promises new faces, better special effects and all of the action of the original. The 2012 remake is directed by Len Wiseman, starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Beil.
Eye candy Colin Farrell makes a much more attractive Douglas Quaid (sorry, Arnold!). His performance as an action hero is believable and I’m happy to say he did not deliver cheese lines like “Consider this a divorce.” Kate Beckinsale gives Sharon Stone a run for her money as Lori Quaid. Sharon was stunning, but Kate Beckinsale as the new Lori is much more brutal. Jessica Beil rocks as the new Melina. The producers should have made her the star as “Donna” Quaid.
The faces aren’t the only changes in the new Total Recall. The only part of the storyline that isn’t changed is Quaid’s visit to Total Rekall (Why is it spelled with a “K” in the scenes of both movies, but not on the movie title?) The movie does not have anything to do with Mars, Domes with Bad Air, or Mutants. I was also sad to see there was not even a nod to my old friend , Johnny Cab.
Total Recall 2012 is set in a post apocalyptic earth. The Quaids live in The Colony – think futuristic China town meets Star Wars. Quaid and his fellow factory workers (he welds two bolts on army robots) board “The Fall,” a cross between a subway and a rocket for their normal daily commute. “The Fall” travels through the center of the earth to the United Federation of Britain in less than 20 minutes. The coolest part of the movie for me are the scenes where they reach zero gravity and everything floats when you are passing through the earth’s core.
After the visit to Rekall, Quaid must recover his memory from the clues he has left for himself. He spends the movie running from the “not the wife” and the leader of New Great Britain who has a plot to take over what is left of the earth with a robot army. Quaid finds himself a leader in the “Resistance” movement with the slogan ” The Fall enslaves us all.” I did like the scenes in the flying hover cars, but then my friend and I were wondering why they still had regular cars on the streets.
Fresh faces and better special effects were just not enough to keep my attention until the end of the movie. I am one of those people who really gets into the movie. I jump and scream during the trailers of scary movies. However, the non-stop action of this movie was not enough to keep me from thinking about folding laundry or if I left my curling iron on. I might have missed a key or two when I rested my eyes for a minute. Throughout the movie, electronic billboards flashed, “ReKall: We can remember it for you.” My reply is, “Go ahead, I won’t recall this mediocre remake of Total Recall!”
REEL REVIEWS, Movie Reviews for Real People is written by Blue Ribbon News special contributor Martha Caster Lloyd of Sachse. She is an avid movie go-er, artist, writer, and professional pet sitter.
REEL REVIEW: ‘Total Recall’ added by Editor on
View all posts by Editor →