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nTitle: Total Recall (2012)
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nDirector: Len Wiseman
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nWriter: Kurt Wimmer, Mark Bomback
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nCast: Colin Farrell, KatenBeckinsale, Jessica Biel
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nReview:
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nI recently wrote an article innwhich I compared both versions of Total Recall: Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 film, andnthis new remake. On that article I pointed out the many differences andnsimilarities between both films, because let’s face it, it’s kind of difficult notnto compare the two, especially when you’re such a fan of the original one. Butnnow that I’ve said my piece about both films, I feel like this new one is goodnenough to get its own review. So, here it is a review for Len Wiseman’s TotalnRecall, sans any comparisons to Verhoeven’s film. But remember, if you’reninterested in reading about how the new and the old compare, don’t hesitate toncheck out my previous article which does just that in a pretty extensive way.
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nOn this film we meet DouglasnQuaid, a blue collar worker who can’t wait to escape his redundant life, hendoesn’t know what it is he wants, but he knows he wants a change. Whilendrinking at the local bar he asks his co-workers if they are happy with howntheir lives have turned out, spending their shitty pay drinking shitty beers inna shitty bar. Quaid wants more out of life, unfortunately he is stuck in hisnsame-o same-o life. But salvation awaits! ‘Rekall’ is a company that sells younfake memories, they can implant fake memories into your brain and make younbelieve you’ve done whatever you ever wanted to do. Of course, Quaid finds allnof this very titillating, it is exactly what he needs, the great escape. So Quaidnends up buying the ticket and taking the ride. Problems arise when the fakenmemory implants awaken a hidden personality which was lying dormant somewherenin the back of his mind. Now people are chasing him and trying to kill him! IsnDouglas Quaid who he thinks he is, or is he someone else?
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nFirst things first, I loved thenthemes on this film. I’ve always said that the best sci-fi films are those thatncomment on the world we live in rather then just being a showcase for special effects and I’m glad to say that thisnnew Total Recall does just that, it comments on the way society is structurednand on they way governments are operating, making their moves so to speak innorder to keep a certain part of the population enslaved. Slavery isn’t over; itnjust changed its name. This new film makes us question the structure of societynand if this is the way things should be. On this film when Douglas Quaid is onnhis way to work, he has to step onto this giant elevator to take what they calln“The Fall”. Basically, the working class travels to their jobs by traversingnthrough the core of the planet on this huge elevator. The thing we need tonnotice about this scene is how tired and bored everybody looks from doing the samenthing every day.
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nSame as the working class thatnChaplin portrayed as sheep in Modern Times (1936) or the workers who enter thengiant elevator to work in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), the workers in TotalnRecall are portrayed as sheep as well. Interesting how going to work andncommuting is called “The Fall”, the symbolisms didn’t escape me atnall. It’s the idea that we are beingntreated as herd and that our lives are being wasted doing menial, repetitive jobs that lead our lives nowhere. I take the train to work everyday and can’t help to think we’renall sheep when I see so many people getting on and off the train, looking tirednand bored out of their minds; like sheep in a heard in deed. Or rather, likenlambs to the slaughter, day by day, the blue collar workers lives are sheerednby the scissors of redundancy and time. Why does life have to be like this fornsome? Can’t life turn out to be something more interesting? Can it all benchanged somehow? Can humanity focus their efforts on something more worthwhile? These are some of the questions that Total Recall considers.
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nThis version of Total Recall isnreally about waking up from that slumber, about disconnecting from that dormantnstate and taking control of your lives. Quaid is about to take the ‘Rekall’ntrip, which is really just a way to try and forget the world and live in antemporary state of bliss. In this film, Quaid is buying a fake escape, notnunlike the fake escape that drugs and alcohol offer. These escapes are onlyntemporary, when you wake up; your problems are still there. A smarter solutionnto redundancy would be to identify it and take the steps to eradicate it fromnour lives. In a way, Total Recall is also commenting on the stupidity ofnsuccumbing to mind numbing drugs to escape our problems. One thing is to usendrugs for recreational purposes, but it’s far more damaging to use them tonforget about your life, to ignore and escape your problems instead of facingnthem. There’s a quote from Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), by the way, one of mynfavorite films ever and a film that addresses some of the very issues that thisnnew Total Recall film addresses; and that quote says: “My father says that almostnthe whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see. Everybody yountalk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and that they live in anstate of constant amazement” I totally agree with this sentiment, and it’s whatnthis new Total Recall film is talking about, waking up from that slumber;ntaking control of your life and doing what you really want with it.
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nIn Quaid’s case, what he feels henneeds to do with his life is joining the revolutionary movement so he cannchange the status quo of society, shake things up, destroy the old way of doingnthings and starting something new. The idea of destroying something in order toncreate something new is not a new idea in cinema or in life for that matter,nbut it is a path seldom taken by society. Big changes occur when old patternsnof action are left behind; this I feel is something that has to happen in thenworld. Things have to change in order for everyone to be happy and free, innorder for all of us to truly enjoy life. Not just a select few. Not just thenrich and powerful, but everyone.
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nIn the world of Total Recall, andnin many parts of the real world we live in governments have taken steps tonoppress the working class even further, while lying through their teeth aboutnhow they do it. The villains of this film are a dictator and his army of cops.nThe dictator tells the people that they are putting more cops on the street tonprotect the population, when in fact what they are really doing is gatheringnmore cops to increment their own private little army with which to oppress. Innthis respect, Total Recall also reminded me a lot of those faceless cops innGeorge Lucas’s THX-1138 (1971), by the way, THX-1138 was an obvious inspiration for this film. I’ve personally seen the powers that benincrement their police force, only to use it against the population and tonviolate said populations humans rights. Not to protect it, but to oppress. Butnyou wouldn’t know that from looking at the media, where they portray themselvesnas protectors of the people in television commercials and news articles paid bynthemselves, to make themselves look like heroes. The film is telling us not tonstand idly as these vile creatures take over the world, that in order for anchange to occur, people need to rise up from complacency.
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nAside from these heavy themes,nthe film is a great sci-fi/action film, I was never bored. Tonally, it’s a morenserious film than Verhoeven’s film, it’s not looking to make you laughnwith one liners or jokes every five seconds, it doesn’t feel as overtly kineticnas Verhoeven’s film and that’s fine, we couldn’t really expect Len Wiseman, thendirector of this film to do the same exact film in tone or feel. This TotalnRecall was going for something different. Yeah we go through the same beats andnmoments, and there’s a nudge or two to Verhoeven’s film, but in the end, thisnnew Total Recall was trying it’s hardest to be something different. I lovenVerhoeven’s film for all its craziness, but I also loved this new Total Recallnfor different reasons, mainly, the awesome art direction, the futuristic technology,nI mean, how cool where those hand phones? I enjoyed the decidedly rebelliousntone and the flying car chase sequence! They really out did themselves withnthose scenes. In terms of fx and action, this one pulled no stops, it’s a chasenmovie with nonstop action. So many things worked just right on this one that Incan’t bring myself to say I didn’t like it, because I did like it very much so,nit’s not as fun or gory, but then again, it wasn’t trying to be.
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nRating: 4 out of 5
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