While not holding much of a candle to the original film, the Total Recall remake is a bit of a mixed bag as it succeeds as a sci-fi action/chase movie but fails as a psychological thriller.

The year is 2084 and the Earth has become nigh uninhabitable with only two major population centers left. The first is the affluent and prosperous United Federation of Great Britain and the second is the Colony, a dense and poor area for the working class built on top of what was once Australia. In order to travel from one population center to the other, a shaft between the two has been built that goes through the center of the planet with a mass transit system called the Fall. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell)  is a common factory worker living in the Colony and working in the UFGB doing the same thing day after day and never getting ahead. He has an impossibly beautiful wife, Lori (Kate Beckinsale) and a affable best friend, Harry (Bokeem Woodbine) but he wants something more and his persistent dreams of action and adventure with a mysterious woman convince him it is time to go get it. Toward this end, Doug decides to take the plunge and go to Rekall, a sketchy outfit that offers fake memories guaranteed to be better than real ones. Before the technicians at Rekall have a chance to implant the exciting secret agent memories they realize that he actually already has those sorts of memories and peace-keeping forces storm the building. After dispatching 10 heavily armed guards and escaping, Doug heads home to find that things are even crazier than he thought as Lori tries to kill him and the woman in his dreams Melina (Jessica Biel) comes to save him. Quaid is relentlessly pursued as he tries to piece together who he is and what relationship he has between the resistance and the despotic Chancellor Cohaagen who is apparently pulling his strings and wants him back alive.

So lookit, I love the original Total Recall. I like the original Total Recall better than the remake for a number of reasons. However, in order to review this movie as objectively as possible I cannot make this a compare and contrast between the two films. It isn’t fair to the new film so suffice it to say that I like the original better and that is the last I will say about it.

This movie is fundamentally a chase movie and as such it is essentially a never ending series of Quaid and Melina running and jumping and hanging off of things and fighting and driving and narrowly avoiding being shot, crushed and otherwise maligned. There are also a lot of really indulgent shots of Kate Beckinsale walking with a purpose with her head cocked at an angle so her hair hangs in front of her face just right, or, alternately, indulgent shots of her standing in some pose or another as she has had her pursuit cut off and she watches them escape. It is kind of a Len Wiseman trademark if you have seen Underworld and is a risk whenever the director’s hot wife is cast in the movie. See also: Paul WS Anderson and the Resident Evil series.

Aside from the aforementioned walking scenes, the chase elements are pretty good. They are staged very well and use the vertical nature of the city as well as the horizontal to make for some interesting moves through the environment. The fights are generally well done and exciting too, also using the unique environmental spaces to set up interesting fights and action. Those environments are really impressive to look at too. The cyberpunk influenced sprawl of the Colony mixes eastern and western design features and offers up a dark and dirty space clogged with people and ideal for claustrophobic chases and action. Conversely the United Federation of Great Britain offers up slick and futuristic traffic systems and technology to weave through. These two distinctly differently environments help break up the action and keep it from getting too stale.

The performances also help because they are generally very good. Scenes between Quaid and Harry feel genuine as do the scenes between Quaid and Melina. Colin Farrell takes the material seriously and comes across as a very scared and confused man but also manages to convey just how dangerous he is…it is like a futuristic Jason Bourne and Farrell handles it well. Bryan Cranston provides a solid if generic Cohaagen and Kate Beckinsale handles her fights very, very well.

So all that is the good news. The bad news is that the movie never stops to catch its breath long enough for you to ever really care about the story or the characters all that much. Where it could have been a mindbending psychological thriller, the memory implants, double crosses and ‘is any of this real in the first place’ moments fade into the background and become very straight forward. You won’t be wondering what was real and what wasn’t when you walk out of the theater and there is never really much tension regarding who Quaid really is or was.

Along those same lines, the story itself becomes something of a jumbled mess and Cohaagen’s plot is sort of a let down. The stakes never feel particularly high for anyone but Quaid. The details of the film let you know that if Cohaagen succeeds a lot of people will die but you know that just because the movie tells you. You never get to connect with anyone in jeopardy aside from Quaid (although maybe the girl with the three boobs might pull you in). When the movie is all over you are left with a sense that it could have been more impactful and had more to say. Also, the attempts at humors via one liners felt very flat for me.

It isn’t that Total Recall is a terrible movie. I am sure it will get a ton of derision just for having the audacity to exist but if you can separate it from the original film and take it on its own merits then you will find a well paced action movie with some good ideas that would have benefited from a bit of fleshing out. It isn’t perfect by any stretch, but it also isn’t terrible.

Conclusion [7.0 out of 10]

Your enjoyment of this movie is going to depend on some different things. If you loved the original and think it is a classic then your enjoyment of this will be determined by your ability to take it for what it is. If you didn’t see the original or don’t hold it in that high of esteem then you have a better chance of enjoying it without expectation. The point is that this is a science fiction action movie with chases and fights and special effects that work well and good to decent performances to deliver it. If that is what you are looking for then you are in good hands. If you are looking for something more or something deeper then you are better served looking elsewhere.