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While it boasts some impressive action sequences, Total Recall lacks the intricate plotting, wry humor, and fleshed out characters that made the original a sci-fi classic.
All Critics (233) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (161) | DVD (3)
Recalls Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Christopher Nolan's Inception, without, sadly being quite as distinctive as either.
'Total Recall' is Hollywood at its worst: pointless, witless, and so very unnecessary.
With a new generation of visual effects at his command, director Len Wiseman has the ability to paint on a broader canvas, but since we see this caliber of movie magic on a regular basis it's no longer an Event.
Wiseman's style is superficially grittier, reliant on desaturated colours, whip pans and lens flare. Yet the film's dystopian setting is blatantly derivative of sci-fi classics from Metropolis to Blade Runner.
The physical glory goes to Beckinsale and Biel who slug it out ferociously. The only problem is that in the clinches it's difficult to tell them apart. Not that it matters. Nothing does.
"Total Recall" is a toned-down, smoothed-out version of an amped-up, bug-eyed classic.
It's a non-stop action fest to the finish.
Throw in a dash of Minority Report and I, Robot, and you have yourself a lukewarm sci-fi action film.
An entertaining, if almost completely empty-calorie film with a Kate Beckinsale performance that should not be missed. Sometimes, that's all the brain needs for a good time.
Total Recall has moments of delicious escapism, but they're snack-sized. As a whole, it's neither entertaining enough nor intelligent enough to leave you with more than a vaguely sci-fi taste in your mouth.
It stands on its own as as a dystopian paranoid fantasy of the sole remaining future superpowers.
Whilst the action is grand in scope - and certainly high in production values - it somehow lacks any tangible sense of tension or drama.
Okay, so its not the original, but what is any more? What is "original", f'cryinoutloud? Ain't it only a conceit? Taken on its own merits then, there's plenty of action and adventure here - they're in some futuristic environment - with plenty of chases and shooting and punching robot stormtroopers, the meat and potatoes this genre demands, so what else do ya want? Bad reputations aren't always justified. This delivers the goods.
Super Reviewer
May not have the charme of Schwarzenegger's original, but delivers non-stop chases and action in a pretty cool production design. Entertaining enough!
You can skip this one.
I'm a big fan of the original. Arnold's humor is my favorite part. This new one takes itself very seriously. That's not good.
The film, after a good start and middle, falls apart at the end. From the moment Bryan Cranston arrives on the scene, the deterioration begins -- and I love Cranston. But the story has no convincing finish.
Not a must see for everyone, but an almost-must see for fans of the original. It's nice to see the way they've integrated their references to the original.
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