Name: Total Recall (2012)
IMDb: link to Total Recall page
Genres: SciFi Country of origin: USA.
Cast:
Colin Farrell as Douglas Quaid/Hauser, Kate Beckinsale as Lori Quaid, Jessica Biel as Melina, Bryan Cranston as Cohaagen, Bokeem Woodbine as Harry, Bill Nighy as Matthias, John Cho as McClane.
Directed by: Len Wiseman. Written by: Kim Wimmer, Mark Bomback (screenplay).
The initial tableaux:
In a dark future dystopia, Douglas works in the UK side of Europe, but lives in Australia. His job is hardly fulfilling, and he is haunted by recurring disturbing dreams. In this stressful situation, he considers using the service Total Rekall, which provides the customer with an extra set of memories that are satisfying in some sense.
Douglas signs up with Total Rekall to be a secret agent against Chancellor Cohaagen, the leader of the UFB, the strongest state. His rewards would be excitement and a growing sense of self-worth, at least while experiencing the extra memories.
Delineation of conflicts:
The imaginary scenario of Total Rekall never gets imprinted. Armed agents crash into Total Rekall to arrest or kill Douglas. He avoids dying, but unfortunately goes home to his 'wife' Lori, who is not his ally. Douglas is on a quest to stay alive, to regain his memories, to find old or new allies, and to figure out what he wants to do with what time he has left. There seem to be factions within Cohaagen's administration, but all of them seem to be after Douglas. Opposing the administration is the Resistance, one of whose leaders is Matthias. Douglas tries to find Matthias. Will this free Douglas, or will it just accomplish Cohaagen's goals of putting down the Resistance?
Resolution: Murky, right up to the end.
One line summary: Hard reboot of the 1990 classic.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 10/10 The practical and CGI effects are impressive, showing the improvement of technology from 1990 to 2012. Compared to this film, the original seems somewhat inventive but clunky and out of date. It's hard to miss the debt of the 2012 film to _Star Wars_ in general, storm troopers, droid armies, and city of Coruscant in particular.
Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog, which is good. The background music is not all that interesting.
Acting: 5/10 Negatives: Kate Beckinsale is at her most unconvincing. Jessica Biel was her usual unremarkable self, decorative but without warmth. Compared to Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin, the 2012 pair were cold cardboard.
Positives: Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Nighy were great in limited roles. I usually consider Colin Farrell a totally blunt instrument, but liked his acting here. On the other hand, I believed Arnold's action sequences, but Farrell's, not so much.
Screenplay: 6/10 This film is a strong departure from the 1990 film of the same name, so much so that a different name altogether would have been appropriate.
Final Rating: 6/10
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