Total Recall

The new version of the 1990 sci-fi thriller “Total Recall” is indeed an enjoyable movie. Been hearing some negative feed backs about the movie, but from my perspective the movie is created with required sincerity. The basic story is the same, but they have changed the plot to another level. The kind of structuring and climax the old Recall had can never impress the modern day audience.

The movie is set in the future after World War III. There are only two parts in the earth livable.  One is the United Federation of Britain and the other part is the Colony. With the two areas geographically far too away people travel through a high speed transportation system called the Fall which takes only 15 minutes to reach the other end by traveling through earth’s core. Colony is controlled by the UFB. UFB chief decides to take on the Colony as living in UFB was becoming difficult with population. The Colony people are leaded by Matthias who stands for the people of Company and is fighting for their freedom from UFB. The movie is about a guy Douglas Quaid who is haunted by dreams. Through an accident at a place called Rekall, a company that implants artificial memories he starts to realize some hard truths about his identity. How he copes with the fact that his identity is not real and how he deals with his role in the Colony-UFB war is all about the movie.

Unlike its original version which released in 1990, they have made some creative changes in the plot like removing the Mars concept and including the possible global destruction and over involvement of robots. Some cliché items are there which are there to help Quaid to understand about his identity. In my view, the amount of confusion from the audience perspective about who exactly Quaid is has been reduced in the newer version and that can be a reason for the dislike of many. Otherwise everything has its own new style.

Performance wise everyone has delivered a descent job on screen. In the technical end, the direction is nice. Screenplay is nicely paced. No great charm in dialogs. The visual effects are really impressive. In its grey tone the VFX of the movie really conveys the darkness of the world. Editing was a bit distracting, especially in some fight scenes.

Overall, Total Recall is a nice remake. The changes from the original one satisfied me. I still don’t think that that the original movie is a master piece. It was a fantasy movie built around the buzz of that time “Mars”.  I am giving 3/5 for this one. It’s a satisfying entertainer.