Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
"Total Recall" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/23/2015
A factory worker dissatisfied with his lot decides to spice up his life and visit a memory implant service to discover that he is in fact an undercover secret agent and wanted fugitive. The fact that I thought that the original Total Recall was a ugly, tacky, nonsensical mess means that this version had very little to live up to, and on that score it is a success. The cast is better (despite a criminal waste of the usually excellent Bill Nighy), the dialogue is better and the visual effects are a LOT better. But as he consistently proves, Len Wiseman does action. He does not "do" character development, he does not "do" sophisticated narratives. He does action. And that's it. So what we have here is a remake that stays very close to the original but dispenses with its more ambitious plot …
Rating of
3/4
Total Recall : Beautiful visual and great action
Tjommi - wrote on 12/30/2012
I think that I had a major advantage over many of the people that saw this movie, and that is that I had forgotten most of the old Total recall. I am also capable of keeping an open mind when I see a movie no matter the hype around it. The only thing I expecteded was an action movie, and that is what I got when I saw it at the cinema. Superb visual effects and good acting performances, and a couple of well timed plot twists along the way. There was no doubt who the hero was and allthough you expected, you knew he was gonna win you still rooted for him. That was not the issue, the issue was the journey and how he was going to win. If you can't seperate the two movies that's really not my problem. I saw this movie, I enjoyed it. It was a good movie.
Rating of
1.5/4
Watch the 1990 version it's better!
Lee - wrote on 12/02/2012
If you haven't seen Total Recall yet 2012 or the 1990 version then most definatly go with director Paul Verhoeven's original starring Arnold Schwartznegger as the 2012 version is a very poor carbon coby with a few changes that were not made for the better. I myself am incredibly leery on watching reboots of films and Total Recall is the main reason as to why. The updated storyline is crap with the evil Cohagen this time round wanting to issue a force of his created robots on what's left of the 21st century inhabitants on the two colonies left in the world titled the UFB (United federation of britain) and the colony (Australia) (Stupid idea) . Yep no trip to Mars this time round folks (or like Arnie likes to call it Maaas) In this one director Len Wiseman still used a majority of the …
Rating of
2.5/4
Visually It's Quite Impressive!
MovieAddict - wrote on 11/04/2012
A dazzling futuristic sci-fi with jaw dropping realistic visuals and intense shootouts loosely based on the 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. The story revolves around factory worker Doug Quaid, played by Colin Farrell, who is tired of his boring simple life and decides to go to a program called Rekall, where they promise you a brain-wired, out-of-this-world fantasy while strapped to a chair. Rekall employee McClane (John Cho of Harold and Kumar) convinces Quaid to be implanted with memories of a secret agent. However, something goes wrong, when they discover a neural implant, already placed there, signifying that Doug really is a secret agent.
The sexy and sleek Kate Beckinsale plays Quaid’s wife Lori (think Vampire Kate minus fangs and …
Rating of
1.5/4
Very disappointing!
Zeljka - wrote on 08/23/2012
Quite disappointing movie. Visually it was stunning, but there was nothing coherent behind the design - if the movie is set on some kind of future Earth, references to current locations were messy and illogical (for an example, I swear I saw Big Ben somewhere during the short metro ride from Wellington) which tells me if director was so careless (and shallow) in these details that could give him more credibility (if he desired that), how can we expect that the movie would be any good at all? Because this was a remake of oh so much better Total Recall from 1990. As a simple brain-dead action sf, movie is OK. For those oblivious it is OK. But as a remake and - what is more important - as a Philip K Dick's story adaptation - it totally fails to deliver the point of the story and of the …
Rating of
2/4
Review: Total Recall
MikePA - wrote on 08/08/2012
Len Wiseman's Total Recall remake is directed with energy, fast-paced, and composed of 2 or 3 cool moments, but it feels like a disappointing rehash of other sci-fi action films rather then a completely solid action movie. To me, it felt like the film was being compressed by so much plot, even though there wasn't much plot. The characters were poorly fleshed out and the script was tediously constructed, but that's not really the point. This is a summer film that's meant to entertain with some great CGI and cool action scenes. OK, but if you're going to make that kind of movie, why don't you put some tension and excitement in your action scenes so they don't feel bland and repetitive, and actually film your fight scenes so that I could understand what the f*ck is going on. The production …
Rating of
2.5/4
Action-Packed Remake Falls Short of Original
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/03/2012
As far as remakes (or reboots go - depending on who you ask) Total Recall manages to earn extra points simply by actually being different from the original film. There are still issues in the film, but I appreciate the fact they took this in a somewhat different direction while still throwing in some nice homages to the original movie.
As we open are film we are introduced to an Earth that has been devastated by chemical warfare: America? Gone, in fact all of North and South America are out, as are Asia, Africa and most of Europe. There are two safe zones left: the island of Britain and some slight surrounding areas (known as the United Federation of Britain - mostly white) and Australia (known as The Colony - a melting pot of cultures). There is great irony in the casting as the head …
Rating of
3/4
Lots and lots of action
Nick - wrote on 08/03/2012
Total Recall falls under the category of a typical remake of our current era. This movie was expected to be mediocre action film based purely on the original. Surprisingly the story is a little different, separating it some from the original. The story is laid out well, and we are introduced to a futuristic post-war Earth where the only two countries that remain are the UFB (United Federation of Britain) and The Colony (formerly Australia). The UFB is the preferred place to live with upper class, where as the colony is where the poor blue collar people must live. Does this sound somewhat similar to real history where Australia was originally a penal colony for Great Britain? The visuals are great, including the futuristic transportation of magnetic bound cars and "The Fall", a …
