Total Recall (2012)

A factory worker, Douglas Quaid, begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run.

Director:

Len Wiseman

Writers:

Kurt Wimmer (screenplay), Mark Bomback (screenplay),

Stars:

Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Farrell	...	Douglas Quaid / Carl Hauser
Kate Beckinsale	...	Lori Quaid
Jessica Biel	...	Melina
Bryan Cranston	...	Cohaagen
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Harry
Bill Nighy	...	Matthias
John Cho	...	McClane
Will Yun Lee	...	Marek
Milton Barnes	...	Resistance Fighter
James McGowan	...	Military Adjutant
Natalie Lisinska	...	Bohemian Nurse
Michael Therriault	...	Bank Clerk
Stephen MacDonald	...	Slacker
Mishael Morgan	...	Rekall Receptionist
LinLyn Lue	...	Resistance Woman

Storyline

In the near future Earth almost uninhabitable, only two territories remain, The United Federation of Britain or UFB, and the Colony. The UFB has been trying to make the Colony part of them but a group led by a man named Matthias and rumor is that a UFB security man, Hauser is helping them but word is that he is dead. Douglas Quaid, a man who lives in the UFB who is married to Lori, has been having nightmares of him being in some kind of battle with another woman, that ends with him getting captured. He decides to go to Rekall, a place where a person can experience something by having it implanted in his mind. When the memory he chooses is about to be implanted, it is detected that he has memories of being a spy, that's when they pull guns on him but some UFB security people show up and shoot up the place. Quaid goes home and tells Lori what happened, that's when she tries to kill him. He asks her why is she trying to kill him, she tells him that she's not his wife, she's UFB security ...

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Plot Keywords:

factory | factory worker | on the run | spy | dream | 

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Taglines:

Is it real Is it recall

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, some sexual content, brief nudity, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El vengador del futuro

Filming Locations:

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$25,577,758 (USA) (3 August 2012)

Gross:

$58,877,969 (USA) (5 October 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Total Recall, Original Film, Prime Focus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 130 min (extended director's cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Quaid retrieves his safe-deposit box, next to the United Federation of Britain 50 currency unit note with Barck Obama is a 1000 currency unit note with a picture of Loren Wiseman, father of director Len Wiseman.

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Goofs

When Carl leaves the rebel base in the waste lands he is wearing a respirator, but he enters the "helicoper" without passing through an air lock. Thus he would be exposed to what ever the respirator was meant to protect him against.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Melina: Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

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Connections

Referenced in Revealed: Bryan Cranston (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor"
Op. 31, No. 2 ("The Tempest")
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Simon Chamberlain

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Total Recall

I guess the floodgates are now open. Adapting Philip K. Dick's stories are no longer enough, and now a trend may follow either to remake the films that have already been done, to give it another spin for a new generation, or how about remaking all of the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, starting from Conan, and now Total Recall. For sure, Colin Farrell can't step into the ex-Mr Universe's hulking frame in playing the construction worker turned double agent Douglas Quaid through what would seem like a fantasy walk in the park for the mind gone all wrong, but if you'd put away your memory of the past film, then his outing here would stand out against his recent slate of projects, bringing him back to action-hero mould even if Len Wiseman's vision here turned a little bit suspect.

Fans of the original film will see only slight similarities in this one, since it took on a different adventure altogether after the familiar introduction. Quaid experiencing a nightmare of a dream only to wake up beside the sexy wife in Lori (Kate Beckinsale, in a role played by Sharon Stone previously, in lingerie no less), and finding that there's probably more to life than just home and work. Enticed by the fantasy inducing company called Rekall where one can live out one's fantasy for a fee, Douglas soon discovers he got more than he bargained for. The contraption's design got brought over, and so did the cult favourite in the three breasted woman, which Singapore back then didn't get to see at all because our censors found it offensive and unreal. The identity mask also has another go, although with less fun, being solely functional and little else.

But what was sorely missed in this remake, is the quip after quip of Arnie-isms, those puns made each time Douglas Quaid did something smart alecky, dispatched an opponent, or just wanted to drawl on something in his Austrian accent. In the typical Arnie movie, there's always room for fun, jokes, and those legendary one liners. Here, all we get are dead serious moments, with the whole look and feel being laden with the need to feel all gritty. Colin Farrell wears a scowl throughout, being perplexed and confused about his true identity in Jason Bourne style complete with mysterious artifacts stored in a safe deposit box, and having doubts to the role he has to play in the entire battle between the Haves and Have Nots.

This Total Recall requires that you junk all memories of the Schwarzenegger film, in order to enjoy the new narrative involving a chemical fallout across all lands save for Britain and parts of Europe now being part of a Greater Britain, and Australia, known as The Colony (yes, some slight historical references here). There's no Mars this time round, as the story gets set strictly on Earth, involving a carnival styled train service that commutes between the two territories, having to pass adjacent to the Earth's core, for some nifty CG effects involving gravitational force reversal.

CG seemed to be what Director Len Wiseman ordered for the film, with green screen effects and CG laden landscapes peppering the entire movie, that makes you wonder about the tagline "What is real?" indeed. It's big on action sequences and slight on actual story, with pauses only to allow the film to breathe a little, before embarking on yet another stunt sequence that involves plenty of running for Douglas Quaid, and his new found love interest / revolutionary partner Melina (Jessica Biel), as they escape from rooftops to elevators, pass through deadly three dimensional elevator shafts and tunnels, fighting their way past synthetic troopers ala Star Wars. It does get pretty generic after a while, that these sequences all start to look very much the same, and probably a Star Wars: Clone Wars episode gone wrong.

Also for the tagline of "What is real?", this remake doesn't really keep you in suspense in a what is, and what is not thought, because for this new generation of audiences, Len Wiseman probably considered it best if everything was spoonfed. So there's no need to guess, and everything got explained verbatim, that you'd know whether it's real, otherwise, and just about every plot and character twist being laid out for all and sundry. Between the two female leads, Kate Beckinsale got more screen time for obvious reasons, though it's not everyday that we get to see her in a negative role. It's clearly expanded here, with her Melina being something of an amalgam of the roles played by Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside as the relentless pursuer of Douglas Quaid, adamant in hunting him down and finishing him off, against orders.

Ultimately, Total Recall 2012 is one big amusement park ride. This will probably be enjoyable for anyone in for an average CG action adventure extravaganza and have no knowledge of the fun blockbuster the first one was, but for the rest of us who have seen Paul Verhoeven's version, this one definitely pales in comparison, in story, action and just plain fun. And Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his prime then, with big shoes that didn't get filled this time round.