The filmmakers – at various different stages before release – would have had you believe that this new 2012 movie was both a reimagining of the original short story, going in a very different direction to the 1990 adaptation and then, later, that it was just a reimagining of Verhoeven’s action classic after all. Dick (who wrote the stories that would be adapted into the likes of Blade Runner, Minority Report and The Adjustment Bureau) short story that the other film was based upon, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”. The story takes its cues mainly from the 1990 film adaptation but also, expectedly, borrows the loose premise from the same Phillip K. And it doesn’t even appear to be having all that much fun whilst it’s doing it. It asks for an almost Promethean level of suspension of disbelief in respect to its more ‘scientific’ plot points and, in return, delivers underdeveloped characters, blurred motives and often ill-conceived reality-bending elements with PG-13/12-A neutered violence to top off the blisteringly fast but largely inconsequential action sequences. Unfortunately – even ignoring the distinct déjà vu you may feel if you’re familiar with the original (as the remake plods step-by-step through exactly the same plot, twist for twist) – this film doesn’t really stand on its own. Slick and big budget action-packed and fast-paced, Len “Underworld” Wiseman’s lens flare-driven 2012 Total Recall remake re-imagines Paul “Robocop” Verhoeven’s Arnie-starring 1990 sci-fi action classic with a futurescape blend of everything from Blade Runner to The Fifth Element, Minority Report to I, Robot. Reworking my cinema coverage to incorporate a detailed look at the Extended Director’s Cut, this Total Recall review comes complete with at least 50% more lens flare.
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March 2023
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