Film review: Total Recall (3 out of 5 stars)

15 (118mins)

Director: Len Wiseman

Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel

It seems I may be stepping out on a limb with this movie - because I liked it.

The general concensus appears to be ‘why remake a film that was a major success?’.

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Well if you adapt the plot enough, up the action and make it bigger and bolder then it would seem worth while.

Director Len Wiseman has moved closer to the original Philip K. Dick story and there’s no messing about on Mars in this version.

Instead, our hero Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is happily married but suffering from weird dreams where he’s a secret agent.

OK, so the original Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle started along similar lines.

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However, the story diverts from the 1990 version fairly early on.

Quaid is soon being chased seemingly endlessly by his wife who now wants to end their marriage... and his life come to that.

Sharon Stone was soon dispatched by Arnie but Kate Beckinsale thankfully has a much more meatier role.

In fact, Kate seems to be the go-to woman for action movies and husband Wiseman uses her well in this (as he did in the Underworld films).

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There’s a nod to the original with some familiar sights (eg a multi-breasted woman) but this is more of a distraction than anything particularly clever.

You could argue that there’s elements of I Robot, Bladerunner and Fifth Element mashed up in this movie, but that doesn’t make it a bad film.

The action builds to an amazing finale with robots and security personnel getting zapped all over the place.

The plot may be a tad predictable in places but there’s no faulting the sheer energy of the piece.

Overall, a pretty good attempt at resurrecting what was a classic sci-fi movie.

3 out of five stars

Steve Payne

Screening courtesy of Cineworld Crawley

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