I never had a strong attachment to the first film, or the
short story it was based on, Phillip K Dick’s We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, so I wasn’t against the idea
of doing another film and one that is similar to the other at the original.
As with other films based on Dick’s writings, there are a
lot of ideas, or at least potential ideas and a far bit of scope in which to
ask various questions. In Total Recall
the questions are most commonly dealing with identity and memory, a vast area
in which ideas can be put forward and questions asked. Such as Blade Runner, which dealt with what is
was to be human or Minority Report,
which deals with the ideas of fate or chance and controlling/sensoring the
future.
The basic story, I will try to avoid spoilers, is that Quaid
(Colin Farrel) is a worker in a factory and pretty unhappy with how his life
has turned out so far, so he goes to Rekall, a company that can give you the
memories of being whatever you wanted to be. However when Quaid goes, it triggers
something in his mind and he is suddenly capable of doing many things, the
first being killing an entire police unit who have come for him. From there we
follow Quaid as he tries to find out who he is, avoid being killed and being
part of a large conspiracy.
After the first act, which is where the majority of the
character work and story is told we are quickly taken at break neck speeds
through the rest of the film to the climactic battle. We move from action
sequence to action sequence, broken up with a short set of scenes that tell us
something that just about moves us forward. Only when Cohaagen (Cranston)
appears in the flesh, do we get any kind of extended dialogue scene that adds
to the characters or the plot, this occurs at the start of the third act and
serves mainly to set up the finale.
Farrell definitely gives a more rounded and confused
performance than Schwarzenegger did in his portrayal, but this new version of
the character lacks the wit, be it intentional or unintentional (for both films)
and it does take the fun out the film at times, as we move from action scene to
somber down time, with little build up or variety as the gears change. Farrell
certainly comes off as more of a normal guy in the beginning, who is confused
about where all this knowledge and the abilities are coming from and handles
the transition well with the little, as mentioned before, character
developments that happen during the second act.
The two female characters played by Jessica Biel and Kate
Beckingsale seem for the most part to mere story devices, one Quaid is running
from and the other he is running to, serving as a motivation and an antagonist.
The roles aren’t forgettable, but the actresses do their best with fairly
limited characterization. It would have been nice to have given them more than
one note to play throughout the film, as neither one shows any doubts or sign
of questioning what is going on around them.
Wisemans direction is good and does well with what he has,
the action scenes, while long, are not interest killing, but it would have been
nice to have seen more variety in them, than just chase scenes, especially
earlier on. The world that these characters inhabit has a clear Blade Runner feel to it, not that it is
a criticism, it looks great and the idea of the floating or different levels of
the city adds and interesting look to the city, although there are one or two
obvious nods to Scott’s film, specifically the running through the glass scene,
which after the initial smirk is quite enjoyable.
If you liked the original one and it’s wit and humour, you
may not like this slick and efficient version, which focuses more on its plot
and the large visuals. But for a bit of entertainment that doesn’t ask too
much, that being my only real criticism of the film, then it’s certainly worth
two hours of your time. Whether you remember it in a week, who knows.
