Review of Total Recall (2012) by Benjamin C — 11 Jul 2014

I can't understand people's objection to this film!?!! I like clever, original, good quality films, I never go for blockbusters or mass-produced hollywood tripe. And I loved this film! The vision of the world, though unceasingly dystopian, is believable; the desperate search for the, almost intangible, truth behind the twisted conspiracy into which the main character is thrown is clever and utterly engaging; the plot, refreshingly unpredictable. Watching this film again, I still have no idea (spoiler alert) whether any of it actually happened and occasions like the unexpected appearance and subsequent showdown with his old friend suddenly take on a new light. I still can't tell whether this was a far-fetched last-ditch ploy to rein in a rouge agent, or the only moment of reality in the whole film.

And I'm sure this is intentional; the entire overriding, yet tantalisingly subtle, theme of whether all of this 'reality' is in reality, reality, or a dream within a memory, within a chemical infusion of mind-altering drugs gone wrong, in a machine to churn out better memories in a back-street memory-shop throws up paradoxes and comprehension contradictions, that I'm not sure I will ever fully solve. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

In short, it is brilliant and when you start to grasp the meta-story orbiting so many light-years above the barest ground-level understanding of the story, it becomes incredible. Watch it, and don't be afraid of low ratings, you have bigger things to deal with.

After all, in reality you're probably not really here reading this, and this review never really happened...