Review of Total Recall (2012) by Dylan D — 11 Apr 2015

Total Recall, 2012's most frustrating movie, gets so much right but doesn't ever fully come together under its own power. It's a film in the midst of a terrible identity crisis, a remake largely in name only that tries to be so different from its predecessor but at the same time take advantage of every opportunity to remind viewers of the other, superior production.

This Total Recall would work wonders were it slightly reworked to exist in the same universe as its predecessor rather than try to fit in that film's own pair of shoes which prove too big to fill.

This 2012 film is exciting and breathtakingly put together, a real stunner of an Action movie, but there's just not a good balance between "new" and "old" and there are too many poor choices in what basic ideas and themes to carry over and what to leave behind, what specific scenes and elements to recreate and which to abandon altogether.

The entire film's problems are embodied in that three-breasted woman: the movie, like her, is a beautiful curiosity that just doesn't always fit amidst its surroundings. Replace her with "story," "emotion," "thoughtfulness," or "characters" and see this Total Recall as a good-looking but rather empty take on a superior product.

Still, it's well worth watching -- and enjoying -- if viewers can separate the two films and soak this one up on its own merits, which is admittedly very hard to do, at times.