Recall or is it Rekall?

We saw the new Total Recall yesterday and.................wait....I need to preface this with something. I love the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film! It is a great violent, splatter wound, mutant filled gun shooting bit one liner feast of awesome! A film released in 1990 with all the traits of a 80's action film. I loved it when I saw it in the theater and love it even more today as it has gained not only nostalgia but a ton of great humor and memories for me.

classic

vs.

new



Now enter the newest version of the a film based on a Phil Dick short story "We can remember it for you wholesale." I have not read this, but it is a second Hollywood take on this short story. Does that mean it is worth a read then? The plot is similar and different than the 1990 predecessor. This film has.............Douglas Quaid, a random guy, who begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run from the government, a werewolf hunting vampire and Walter White. His only hope is the girl from Seventh Heaven and Davy Jones/Viktor. 

No werewolf hunting here, just after Colin Farrell this time, and with robots!!!!!

What follows is a good bit of science fiction filming. There is all the stuff that I require from a good sci-fi movie: dystopian future, evil corporation/ government, an underground military resistance, robots, brain implant chairs, floating interactive computer programs, bioluminescent tattoos, laser light whipcoil tazers, magnetic grav hover cars, some sweet looking firearms, internal hand phones, visual masking devices a city that is equal parts Mega City One and Los Angeles from Blade Runner, high tech cop gear, a intra-planetary chunnel and a  nuclear/poison fallout wasteland. All this stuff makes for a good sci-fi film experience for Ian. There is also some great eye candy with Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and a Colin Farrell ( he is a bit of a hunk).



I love me some robots!

There is also a good bit of action as well. Robot enforcers and constantly tactical armed police blasting away. A pseudo flying car chase, a new take on the video game Elevator Action, numerous fisticuffs and the best take down in recent film history, the Kate Beckinsale power slide crotch tackle!

There are also a few great throwback moments to the original 1990 film. If you have seen the trailers and the original you know one of them. The second is just classic stuff! There is also the similar implant chair. There is also a rehash of a couple iconic scenes.

Forget cooking meth, Walter White wants to control the remaining world!

Is this a great movie? Well no. Will normals like it? Maybe? Is it a great sci-fi movie? Hell yes! It is not the original Total Recall by any means (no Mars, no mutants, less blood and no aliens). However, it is another film with the same title and loosely based on the same short story. It is a damn good bit of sci-fi fun and worth a watch, if you like this kind of stuff.