New look
of
“Total
Recall“
makes
you long
for the
memories
of the
original
film
By Karen
Dinkins
-
Tell Us
USA News
Network
Entertainment
Editor
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
In this
remake
of
“Total
Recall”
Colin
Farell
plays
-Doug
Quaid/Hauser,
a now
classic
role
originally
played
by
Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
You’d
expect
that
Farell
would
make you
forget
all
about
the
first
film
made in
1990 but
his
portrayal
doesn’t.
Farell/
Quaid-Hauser
plays a
bored
construction
worker
who
wants
more out
of life
so he
goes to
“Total
Rekall”
a
company
which
sells
mind
trips,
where he
gets to
choose a
more
exciting
life and
keep the
memories.
As you
know if
you’ve
seen the
original
movie
Schwarzenegger/Quaid-Hauser
is a
double-agent
but his
memories
have
been
wiped
clean
because
of his
“Total
Rekall”
experience,
but
those
memories
start
coming
back
which
puts him
on a
quest to
discover
who he
really
is.
Colin
Farell
plays
this
role as
if he’s
totally
in the
dark,
he’s
confused
and
troubled
and you
don’t
get the
impression
that
he’s a
strong
force
until
snippets
of his
memory
start to
return
and then
it’s as
if his
expertise,
as the
most
sought
after
double
agent,
just
happens
by
accident.
Farell/Quaid-Hauser
seems to
be
disconnected
from the
role
which
leaves
the
viewer
lost
about
what’s
going
on. In
comparison
Schwarzenegger’s
quirky
charm
and
European
flavor
connects
with
audiences
and
because
of his
strong
physique,
stature
and
survival
instincts
you know
he’s
smarter
than he
looks
and by
sheer
will
he’ll
discover
his
identity
and get
to the
bottom
of the
situation.
“Total
Recall”
2012 has
some
exceptional
special
effects
and the
design
of the
futuristic
world is
high
tech but
dark and
dreary
compared
to the
original.
It’s
interesting
to watch
but you
don’t
feel
like
it’s a
futuristic
world
that you
can
relate
to.
The
premise
of the
film
takes on
a
different
twist
it’s not
about
the
government
trying
to
develop
and mine
the
resources
on
planet
Mars for
profit.
In this
version
there
are two
colony’s
the U.S.
(American)
Colony
which is
a poor
community
and the
British
colony
which
secretly
plans to
destroy
the U.S.
Colony
by
building
synthetic
Police
Robots
that
will
ultimately
wage war
and
destroy
innocent
U.S.
Colony
citizens
who
won’t
know
what hit
them.
Kate
Beckinsale
is
outstanding
as
Farell/Quaid-Hauser’s
fake
wife
Lori.
She has
some
outstanding
action
scenes
that
show
she’s no
slouch.
She’s
relentless
in her
quest to
capture
and kill
Farell/Quaid-Hauser
once she
learns
who he
is.
Jessica
Biel/
Melina
holds
her own
as
Farrell’s
real
love
interest.
We
haven’t
seen her
in a
movie in
a while
and this
definitely
changes
her
image
because
she has
to be
more
rugged
and
powerful.
Blast
from the
past
former
Rapper
turned
actor
Bokeem
Woodbine
plays
Harry,
Farrell’s/Quaid’s-Hauser’s
construction
co-worker
who’s
secretly
working
for the
enemy,
assigned
to watch
him and
keep him
from
discovering
his
former
identity.
I
watched
the
original
to
refresh
my
memory
and I
expected
the
remake
to be a
better
version
because
the
critics
didn’t
take
Schwarzenegger’s
acting
career
seriously
but they
knew how
to
harness
his
strengths
and
position
him
opposite
other
characters
in such
a way
that it
works
ten
times
better
than the
2012
version
of Total
Recall.
You can
follow
the
story
easily
in the
original
version
and
you’d
believed
that
Schwarzenegger
was a
hero of
sorts
who
would
save the
day. In
the new
version
Farell/
Quaid-Hauser
seems
lost and
he takes
you on
that
trip
with him
but he
doesn’t
have the
real
power
that we
see
throughout
the
original
and you
don’t
know if
he has
what it
takes to
turn
this
situation
around
but I’ll
let you
be the
judge of
that
when you
see the
movie
yourself.
