Total Recall (2012)

Zach Goodier

This remake of the class movie takes place on earth, where the planet is inhospitable following world war, except for 2 regions, the United Kingdom and Australia. However, since these 2 regions are on opposite ends of the planet, a massive elevator was built to carry people and materials back and forth between the two. The only problem is that while the United Kingdom enjoys prosperity and growth, Australia finds itself exploited. To fight this injustice, a resistance was formed to fight for their freedom. Most of the other story details follow a similar pattern to the original, with plenty of quality CGI work that actually makes this movie feel as futuristic as it is supposed to.

A lot of these scenes are top-notch with the mix of CGI and practical effects working together to make things look real and impressive.

The story was very well handled. It assumes you’ve watched the original movie, and like any quality remake, it pays subtle nods to the original in a variety of clever and enjoyable ways. For example, in one scene, Quaid has to get beyond a security checkpoint, much like the original movie when he arrives on Mars. In the scene, you see a woman walk through the scanner that was the same woman that Quaid disguised himself as in the original. However, the twist is that she isn’t really Quaid, his disguise in this version is an Asian man behind her in line. Things like this are relatively subtle, but show that the creators took the time to throw in these little easter eggs for fans of the original film.

I've seen Underworld, those heels won't
slow her down at all.

Beyond that, there are lots of other clever twists and turns to make both new and old fans of the movie excited. Between the quality acting of Colin Farrel, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and Bryan Cranston as Cohaagan, there’s a great cast and everyone does a great job.

An alternate title could be "Mindf*#@"

The only faults I found with this film were that I was hoping to see a modern rendition of a mars colony, and while there is no shortage of visuals, I found this major change in the plot to be a conspicuous absence as a fan of the original. Plus, the elevator still felt somewhat far-fetched in the story, given the intense heat within the planet.

This was a cornerstone to the original movie's plot, so it makes sense that they had to include a triple-breasted lady here.

Overall, this is still a quality action movie, and does a lot of things faithfully for fans of the original, except for one of the most important parts: the setting. Also, there are a few points in the movie where you question how deep things were thought out. Still, this is a fun movie, and the actors all do an amazing job in their roles, it just falls a little short on the concept, but that does little to take away from an excellent movie otherwise.

Good:

-Mostly faithful to the original, with enough twists and turns to keep things fresh and interesting.

-Excellent CGI work.

-Great cast

Bad:

-Changes one major detail of the original by keeping things on earth.

-A few questionable elements to the plot that never get explained.

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10