REVIEW: Total Recall (2012)

[Overmind One]

Wow, this movie really surprised me. After seeing the awesome Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was expecting this one to be glitzy and lacking in overall impact. Boy, was I wrong. As far as action, it was all over the original. The premise was now much different with a post biological-war earth polarized by two isolated points connected by a transport traveling through the core of the earth. But it works very well. We have our familiar villian Cohagen, and some of the minor characters. I cant say too much without giving the new movie away.

There are nods to the original throughout the movie, including our EXTRA busty girl with redundant breasts. However in this movie you arte left scratching your head about how she would be on earth and have three of them. Still, it was cool to have her in there. No more rubber faced mutants. No Mars, and you will still like this movie.

 

[shavedape]

This is good to know as I generally avoid Colin Farrell movies but it sounds like it is worth seeing. I will admit that the previews for this film caught my eye despite the lead actor. I'll put it on my que.

 

[Overmind One]

This is good to know as I generally avoid Colin Farrell movies but it sounds like it is worth seeing. I will admit that the previews for this film caught my eye despite the lead actor. I'll put it on my que.

I have watched it like, 6 times. Its a fun, entertaining movie. Also, just to show how this new GateFans 2.0 does things, your comment is listed in the front part of the site in the blog. If anyone replies there, it will show up here. Neat:

 

[shavedape]

Yeah, that was cool that it reposted.

 

[CylonRomo]

wow, I assumed from the beginning this movie would suck. I might sample it now.

 

[OMNI]

it aint bad relly.

 

[shavedape]

I can't believe I'm saying this about a Colin Ferrell movie but I might put this one on my Netflix cue.

 

[YJ02]

Just watched on PPV.

Didn't really like it.

I mean just how many times is the Beckingsdale character going to go after Quaid? Why is she so set on getting him? She doesn't even want to follow her bosses orders in doing so, just one fight scene after the other. What is her hatred of him? Jealousy? Mad because she had to sleep with him?

The elevator scene seems to take place in there just in order to facilitate the SFX used.

At times I thought I was watching a bit of "SW:Attack of the Clones". When its said that Cohaagen wants to precipitate action that would allow him to build more robo-cops, sounded a lot like a 'double' for the plot in "AOC"; make pretense for war so an army can be built.

And what is the motivation exactly for the Colony (australia) to be free of the British federation? They say they are oppressed, but it seems they have a fairly good life. Why does Cohaagen want to wipe out the colony? They are of no threat on the other side of the planet; just destroy the means of transpo and contact severed-threat avoided.

Why can't this seemingly high tech culture make long range or space hugging aircraft to travel to and from the colony? Because of the contaminated areas? It can't be that contaminated; the only protection we see characters wearing in a contaminated zone are protective masks with no skin protection. therefore the chemicals can't be that nasty-least not so nasty that it would preclude air flight.

And why are the colony and "Britain" not contaminated. It is suggested the chemical is aerial (the masks) so this would mean that if so much of the Earth is a chemical wasteland then the chem's would have been carried to these last areas as well.

But like the rest of the movie, it is just tedious, with no real depth in the characters or motivations explained; Matthias wants to lead the colony to freedom why? So he can be a dictator as well?

And WHERE was the recall experience? Every time we think we'll get it, it is abruptly cut short by more fight scenes.


Total Recall made me recall why I don't go to the movies or buy DVD's; I'll just wait till they hit NETFLIX.

 

[OMNI]

Just watched on PPV.

Didn't really like it.

I mean just how many times is the Beckingsdale character going to go after Quaid? Why is she so set on getting him? She doesn't even want to follow her bosses orders in doing so, just one fight scene after the other. What is her hatred of him? Jealousy? Mad because she had to sleep with him?

The elevator scene seems to take place in there just in order to facilitate the SFX used.

At times I thought I was watching a bit of "SW:Attack of the Clones". When its said that Cohaagen wants to precipitate action that would allow him to build more robo-cops, sounded a lot like a 'double' for the plot in "AOC"; make pretense for war so an army can be built.

And what is the motivation exactly for the Colony (australia) to be free of the British federation? They say they are oppressed, but it seems they have a fairly good life. Why does Cohaagen want to wipe out the colony? They are of no threat on the other side of the planet; just destroy the means of transpo and contact severed-threat avoided.

Why can't this seemingly high tech culture make long range or space hugging aircraft to travel to and from the colony? Because of the contaminated areas? It can't be that contaminated; the only protection we see characters wearing in a contaminated zone are protective masks with no skin protection. therefore the chemicals can't be that nasty-least not so nasty that it would preclude air flight.

And why are the colony and "Britain" not contaminated. It is suggested the chemical is aerial (the masks) so this would mean that if so much of the Earth is a chemical wasteland then the chem's would have been carried to these last areas as well.

But like the rest of the movie, it is just tedious, with no real depth in the characters or motivations explained; Matthias wants to lead the colony to freedom why? So he can be a dictator as well?

And WHERE was the recall experience? Every time we think we'll get it, it is abruptly cut short by more fight scenes.


Total Recall made me recall why I don't go to the movies or buy DVD's; I'll just wait till they hit NETFLIX.

over population on the british side.
"lebensraum"

and some how they are domed cities.

 

[YJ02]

they domed all of australia, england and northern europe? according the the map at the beginning, these, and a few small coastal areas elsewhere, are the only places suitable to live

 

[Bluce Ree]

What a bad movie. I rolled my eyes so far around they fell out of my eye sockets and I had to futz around on the floor like a blind fool looking for them so I could put them back in my head and see again.

The premise was absolutely stupid. There is no doubt in my mind it was written by an 8 year old.

The Earth is now divided in two, the United Federation of Britain and the "Colony", which used to be Australia but is now inhabited by workers of the federation and they travel between UFB and the Colony via a giant tube that runs through the center of the Earth. Ok, let's ignore the fact that the Earth's core gives out more heat and energy than the sun's surface and that material to forge a tube through which travel is possible would be next to impossible. I can get past this stupidity but the story itself is another matter.

The entire premise is about the colony wanting to be free of the UFB and, for the life of me, I do not understand why. Why were there "terrorists" and freedom fighters? What was so bad and horrible about life under the federation? The only hint of frustration and "oppression" I got from this film was when Quaid was passed over for promotion because someone WITH A FORMAL EDUCATION AND DEGREES got the job he wanted. Boohoo. Get a friggin' degree if that's what's keeping you down rather than starting a revolution.

In the original, the conditions of the Martian colony were horrible. We were made to feel for the colonists, the conditions under which they lived, the cost-cutting that went into building the colonies with poor materials, poor shielding from radiation, etc. In the new one? Maybe I wasn't paying attention but then that only means this movie didn't engage me sufficiently or even make me give a shit enough to find out what the problems were or just how bad things were.

 

[Overmind One]

What a bad movie. I rolled my eyes so far around they fell out of my eye sockets and I had to futz around on the floor like a blind fool looking for them so I could put them back in my head and see again.

The premise was absolutely stupid. There is no doubt in my mind it was written by an 8 year old.

The Earth is now divided in two, the United Federation of Britain and the "Colony", which used to be Australia but is now inhabited by workers of the federation and they travel between UFB and the Colony via a giant tube that runs through the center of the Earth. Ok, let's ignore the fact that the Earth's core gives out more heat and energy than the sun's surface and that material to forge a tube through which travel is possible would be next to impossible. I can get past this stupidity but the story itself is another matter.

The entire premise is about the colony wanting to be free of the UFB and, for the life of me, I do not understand why. Why were there "terrorists" and freedom fighters? What was so bad and horrible about life under the federation? The only hint of frustration and "oppression" I got from this film was when Quaid was passed over for promotion because someone WITH A FORMAL EDUCATION AND DEGREES got the job he wanted. Boohoo. Get a friggin' degree if that's what's keeping you down rather than starting a revolution.

In the original, the conditions of the Martian colony were horrible. We were made to feel for the colonists, the conditions under which they lived, the cost-cutting that went into building the colonies with poor materials, poor shielding from radiation, etc. In the new one? Maybe I wasn't paying attention but then that only means this movie didn't engage me sufficiently or even make me give a shit enough to find out what the problems were or just how bad things were.

Agreed...how unlikely is it that Britain and Australia escaped the chemical war we had, but non-targets like Africa and South America got poisoned? Also, what was the deal with including the three-boobed chick in this film? How would she come to exist in this premise? Where did the resources come from to build the tunnel through the core, and how would Cohagen come to control such a resource? It was ridiculous. I dont see the need for an entity such as Rekall in that world AT ALL.

But the look of the film was right, the effects and CGI were good. They could have improved the movie 1000-fold by simply giving it another title other than Total Recall.

 

[YJ02]

What a bad movie. I rolled my eyes so far around they fell out of my eye sockets and I had to futz around on the floor like a blind fool looking for them so I could put them back in my head and see again.

The premise was absolutely stupid. There is no doubt in my mind it was written by an 8 year old.

The Earth is now divided in two, the United Federation of Britain and the "Colony", which used to be Australia but is now inhabited by workers of the federation and they travel between UFB and the Colony via a giant tube that runs through the center of the Earth. Ok, let's ignore the fact that the Earth's core gives out more heat and energy than the sun's surface and that material to forge a tube through which travel is possible would be next to impossible. I can get past this stupidity but the story itself is another matter.

The entire premise is about the colony wanting to be free of the UFB and, for the life of me, I do not understand why. Why were there "terrorists" and freedom fighters? What was so bad and horrible about life under the federation? The only hint of frustration and "oppression" I got from this film was when Quaid was passed over for promotion because someone WITH A FORMAL EDUCATION AND DEGREES got the job he wanted. Boohoo. Get a friggin' degree if that's what's keeping you down rather than starting a revolution.

In the original, the conditions of the Martian colony were horrible. We were made to feel for the colonists, the conditions under which they lived, the cost-cutting that went into building the colonies with poor materials, poor shielding from radiation, etc. In the new one? Maybe I wasn't paying attention but then that only means this movie didn't engage me sufficiently or even make me give a shit enough to find out what the problems were or just how bad things were.

Ditto,Ditto and Ditto

no motivation for independence-other then maybe some australian wants to be a dictator in his own right so a false fight for freedom

the tunnel is nuts but just let it slide to magic thinking

and we never see an actual "recall experience" like in the book and the original film

i would much rather deal with being forced to rewatch TOTAL RECALL 2070 over and over then ever watch this movie again.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Agreed...how unlikely is it that Britain and Australia escaped the chemical war we had, but non-targets like Africa and South America got poisoned? Also, what was the deal with including the three-boobed chick in this film? How would she come to exist in this premise? Where did the resources come from to build the tunnel through the core, and how would Cohagen come to control such a resource? It was ridiculous. I dont see the need for an entity such as Rekall in that world AT ALL.

But the look of the film was right, the effects and CGI were good. They could have improved the movie 1000-fold by simply giving it another title other than Total Recall.

Ditto,Ditto and Ditto

no motivation for independence-other then maybe some australian wants to be a dictator in his own right so a false fight for freedom

the tunnel is nuts but just let it slide to magic thinking

and we never see an actual "recall experience" like in the book and the original film

i would much rather deal with being forced to rewatch TOTAL RECALL 2070 over and over then ever watch this movie again.

This movie stripped away all the fun and intrigue of the book and the original movie. The three-boobed chick was epically useless, nothing but a desperately contrived wink at the original movie and completely pointless because mutations were not a part of this movie. Cohagen having so much control on Mars was believable to me given its distance, relative isolation and the position he held. In this movie, it was ... well ... I have no clue how it's even remotely possible for him to have so much power and control.

I agree they could have just given it its own title but the incessant need for these hollow shills in Hollywood to ride legacy success seems to be a growing trend. The movie basically had its own story and the CGI was good. It didn't needed no ties to Total Recall whatsoever but the fact it did pissed me off.

The whole movie seemed rushed, as if the writers assumed its audience would know what's going on most of the time because of its loose relation to the original. They had a fantastic opportunity to modernize the original Total Recall and failed miserably.

This movie was so bad I'm going to rewatch the original and hope my brain will overwrite and wipe this garbage away. If that doesn't work I may follow yongjin's example and watch the entire run of Total Recall 2070 and hope that the pain of a hammer to my foot will ease the burning pain in my eyes.

 

[Overmind One]

This movie stripped away all the fun and intrigue of the book and the original movie. The three-boobed chick was epically useless, nothing but a desperately contrived wink at the original movie and completely pointless because mutations were not a part of this movie. Cohagen having so much control on Mars was believable to me given its distance, relative isolation and the position he held. In this movie, it was ... well ... I have no clue how it's even remotely possible for him to have so much power and control.

I agree they could have just given it its own title but the incessant need for these hollow shills in Hollywood to ride legacy success seems to be a growing trend. The movie basically had its own story and the CGI was good. It didn't needed no ties to Total Recall whatsoever but the fact it did pissed me off.

The whole movie seemed rushed, as if the writers assumed its audience would know what's going on most of the time because of its loose relation to the original. They had a fantastic opportunity to modernize the original Total Recall and failed miserably.

This movie was so bad I'm going to rewatch the original and hope my brain will overwrite and wipe this garbage away. If that doesn't work I may follow yongjin's example and watch the entire run of Total Recall 2070 and hope that the pain of a hammer to my foot will ease the burning pain in my eyes.

Agreed on all, especially the bolded. I think the single most irritating moment was the three boobed chick. It was so utterly contrived, from her red jacket to her "youre gonna wish you had three hands" line, it was beyond tongue in cheek. What I want to know is:

WHY?

Why did this producer feel it necessary to change the locale from Mars to Earth, and create this stupid subway through the core mess? It was most certainly within the budget, from what I saw in this movie. The only other time I ever saw such a butchered up remake was with Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. That movie is arguably the worst remake I have ever seen, right up there with Godzilla with Matthew Broderick. The premise and characters were so different they had absolutely no connection to the originals. One of the best remakes to me is the latest Planet of the Apes which updates (yet completely preserves) the premise of the original. Have the studios/producers done away with focus groups?

 

[YJ02]

Agreed on all, especially the bolded. I think the single most irritating moment was the three boobed chick. It was so utterly contrived, from her red jacket to her "youre gonna wish you had three hands" line, it was beyond tongue and cheek. What I want to know is:

WHY?

Why did this producer feel it necessary to change the locale from mars to Earth, and create this stupid subway through the core mess? It was most certainly within the budget, from what I saw in this movie. The only other time I ever saw such a butchered up remake was with Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. That movie is arguably the worst remake I have ever seen, right up there with Godzilla with Matthew Broderick. The premise and characters were so different they had absolutely no connection to the originals. One of the best remakes to me is the latest Planet of the Apes which updates (yet completely preserves) the premise of the original. Have the studios/producers done away with focus groups?

speaking of the apes--any idea what's up with a sequel? I read, long ago, that they are planning several movies but every time I tried looking it uo I just got some fan created bs

i liked the movie, especially with the med research tie in and Caesar's organizing the "shelter apes". Also like how they tied in the space program and the subtle ossue of some new pandemic on the horizon

so will that answer the issue of how does a group of apes overthrow all of the world's military? that is, does the pandemic get so bad that many humans abandon earth? good chance to make a "deep" multi plot film IMO, just keep the non plot related sex and silliness to a minimum and maybe it will be good

And with TR remake, i think i said it before, but the film was like a very long video resume for the two principal actors and nothing more then slapstick violence and silliness

 

[Tropicana]

I watched this on my flight to Hong Kong few weeks ago and I must say, I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[Overmind One]

I watched this on my flight to Hong Kong few weeks ago and I must say, I enjoyed it immensely.

I said earlier in this thread, I did enjoy the movie. I found it entertaining and visually appealing. What I didnt like was that it was SUPPOSED TO BE Total Recall, and that is not what it was. When I look at it in that way, it is not as bad. But at exactly the wrong time in the movie, the three-boobed chick turns up out of nowhere and gives us her "three hands" line and that shakes my self-imposed illusion that this is another movie. That two minutes or so in the movie pissed me off something awful.

 

[shavedape]

I watched this on my flight to Hong Kong few weeks ago and I must say, I enjoyed it immensely.

#1. Colin Ferrell isn't that hot and chances are good that he doesn't bathe on a regular basis. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. This automatically means any movie he's in is shite. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. Don't even try to play.

#2. Hong Kong hmm? Well, I guess you've been too busy to post pics of your wild adventures there.

#3. Ditto when it comes to souvenirs for your bestest cyber friends. Hell, Bluce has promised to bring each of us a live vampire-monkey from his trip to Panama -- or was it each a spider-parakeet? I remember it was some kind of small animal that can fit into a Justin Bieber poster tube like sardines in a can.

#4. Colin Ferrell smells like the fecund, business-end of a moribund horse.

 

[Overmind One]

I just watched this awful Total Recall 2012 movie today, and I cannot remember the last time I felt twice the disappointment as I did the first time I watched it. I went to type something on it here, and there was this thread already on the boards.

Anyway, most of what was wrong with this movie has already been said! Now, I will just go lick my wounds. But for such an old movie by today's date, it could have been great if only it had been given a different name like "The Drop" (which would have been perfect).