Three-Handed

Last week's pick was the film starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel: Total Recall. I have not watched the Paul Verhoeven's 1990 original, so I'm going to treat this review as a stand-alone film. But I will try to modify this review after I watched the Arghnold film [And yes I have watched it by now!]. Well, from the trailers this film looks like a decent sci-fi/action film and God, it has Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel. I sure think that was quite worth the admission ticket. The director (and also Kate's husband) Len Wiseman proved to be a great action director when he helmed Die Hard 4.0, remember those crazy, over-the-top action scenes?

Adapted from the Phillip K. Dick short story, the story is set in a futuristic world where most parts of the world are destroyed after a great war. Douglas Quaid (Farrell) is an ordinary factory worker whose life had became a routine that he loathed. He went to this place called Rekall where they could offer a dream that could be implanted to the brain as memory. However, it was later known that Quaid isn't the man he thought he should be. He suddenly became chased by his own wife, Lori (Beckinsale) and placed in the center of an ongoing conflict between the current government and the rebellion. 

One thing that was amazing in this film is the concept, the world. To have United Federation of Britannia and also Australia as the colony and have a massive 'train' that connects the both. Those were amazing. The film also doesn't disappoint in terms of action scenes. The magnetic car-chase scenes were amazing and that was one of the best scenes in the film. Colin Farrell should have this kind of film that actually enables him to do lots of action and also possibly, a star. Kate Beckinsale is superb in her action scenes, thanks to Underworld franchise and thanks to Len Wiseman who gave her lots of screen time. However, Jessica Biel is overshadowed by Beckinsale when actually she could do the good parts too like her co-star and also her character is not memorable at all. The girl fight between Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale is one of the things I waited but it was disappointing. It all happened so fast and actually forgettable, unlike Lea Seydoux vs Paula Patton in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It was clear that Len Wiseman reserved all the great scenes to Kate. The conflict between the government led by Cohaagen played by Bryan Cranston and the rebellion led by Matthias played by Bill Nighy was unclear and leaves you with 'what the hell was that?' Bill Nighy is a wasted talent here. [spoiler alert] he may only had like 3 minutes of screen time. Remember, in Wrath of the Titans he was the one that makes the film live again albeit also little screen time. The film was full of action up until the moment all the action became a bore. The best example of this is The Raid, where there was an abundance of action scenes it actually became a repetition and ultimately a bore in the end. Total Recall was let down by the climax that it became a normal action film with knives and fist-fight. There are also some plot holes like [spoiler alert part2] if Quaid was such a great double agent and fugitive, would anyone recognize him at work, at the Fall, or even his secret agent wife? The face is till the same. Unless you put Ethan Hawke as the Quaid before he had his memory wiped. Fyi, those Ethan Hawke thing was scrapped from the final cut of the film.

If you compared this to the 1990 film, this one is definitely a derivative. Colin Farrell is a better actor than Schwarzenegger yes but the whole 1990 film is rich in story and character. Also there's a twist in the end where Hauser is actually working with Cohaagen. In the newest film, it's not explained well. It's like the filmmakers have ran out of ideas, or ran out of new, original ideas. With the mutants, Johnnycab, Richter and Benny the film has more characters than only Kate Beckinsale. Everything is definitely explained better in the 1990 film although not that perfect. The whole thing about going to Mars makes it kinda badass too. However, final words, if you're looking for a great time at the cinemas, this is it. Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale's appearance is all you need to stay interested and follow the film until the end. OH and that three-breasted woman too! :P Total Recall: rated 2 out of 4.