Total Recall (2012)
What is real?
Today begins an experiment, or rather is an excuse for an experiment. The idea of playing with memories is a bit tangential to the overall thought of the experiment, and so tonight’s movie is oddly fitting. I found myself asking a question at one point while watching movies with prequels and remakes, and perhaps through experimentation with a small groups size we can come up with a bit of a working hypothesis. How much are our tastes dependent on which thing - be it original, reboot, or sequel - we see first? Does nostalgia of time play more a role than the actual quality of a movie? Tonight we begin to try and unravel this simple and honestly stupid question, as I try to remember things I forgot. Keep a grasp on reality, tonight we look at the reboot of Total Recall.
At times, this movie couldn’t be more different then the original - but given the nature of this experiment, we’ll save most that comparison talk for when we get to that one (it being the one that I saw first, but not the watch subject whose seen neither of them). Likewise, in typical me fashion, I know nothing about We Can Remember It for You Wholesale outside of it’s existence as a book and at least theoretical source inspiration. So then, leaving both of those out of the equation, what do we have for our story? The world is a messed up place, and we have two spots that the folks live in - upper crust and fancy posh town Super Britain, and Blade Runner style neon and slummy Colony. Connecting these two is a wicked elevator called the Fall that shortcuts right through the center of the planet - no, don’t think too hard about that. Our main character wakes up to a re-occuring nightmare where him and some lady who isn’t his wife are all action-movie trying to escape some place from armed men. The attack on his sleep is starting to rattle his cage a bit, as he’s getting fed up with the routine complacency of daily life and not getting anywhere in his job. When he finally decides to hit up a place that will inject you with your most fantastical fantasies as memories, his life takes a large turn. Looks like he’s already a super spy, and you don’t get to inject memories of what you are without it causing a lot of problems - not usually but maybe involving an armed strike force busing in on him and trying to take out everyone inside.
Actors do an alright job here. At times I will say it’s not as nice feeling as it could be - but I can’t speak to if it’s intentional or not. Yes, our lead character has the whole ker-fudled memory reality thing going on so it gives some leeway with the acting, but even so at times he just feels a little bit flat. Although I have nothing against the man, I do admit that my watch partner’s comment of “it feels like it was a role for Ryan Reynolds to be in” does carry a legit feeling of honesty to it at times - and our lead is not him. Still, he does like most the others largely do a fine job of convincing fewer the part he’s playing even if it’s never necessarily blasting it out of the water either. Most the side characters do a pretty solid job - sometimes a more solid job then the main cast - but for the most part I don’t think it ever truthfully gets to the point I’d call any of the acting bad - but then again, I’ve seen some movies.
Characters are a bit spread out and for the most part any kind of character growth is really focused on just our main. There’s the plot and the mystery element of it that’s played with quite a bit, and in turn that leads to our character having to find out some of who he once was and who he is now - but it’s also somewhat a little bit cheapened by the fact that we only know the current him the entire time, so his character seems like a fine enough person who just wishes for more, and ends as a fine enough person whose done more (which is at least character transiting, even if his core self doesn’t feel too different). Side characters all have their roles and personalities, but you really shouldn’t expect people to have major developments throughout. It’s enough that they don’t pull you out too much with just being cartoonishly evil or anything - well, perhaps the main villain feels a bit mad, but outside of that it’s all fine.
Busy day for robo-secuirty
When it comes time for costumes and sets, we get plenty of stuff to look at. Yes, it might feel a bit route by modern times when we’ve seen plenty like it, but there is a nice contrast between the uppity clean Brit and the cyberpunk neon wetness of the Colony. I like that Blade Runner look, even if here’s its a bit brighter then the other one. Some of the costumes - like the law forces - can look pretty cool and rather science fiction - or that one that may have been a full body costume of a sexbot, or just a CG one I don’t know. Either way, there are some fancy costumes, whereas most the costumes manage to have that run of the mill everyday look that really doesn’t impress (especially in science fiction) but does feel like it belongs and doesn’t pull you out of it. The tech is a bit fancier, with props getting into elaborate chairs and touched up screens (some of which are more an effect considering it’s all CG). Overall, it’s nice enough that it works, but it’s not so different from other things that it really feels unique at all honestly.
Effects fair a bit better as far as being neat or standing out. Yeah, we get a bunch of holographic stuff and some fancy overlays for things like hands-on-glass phone calls - but the fancier stuff is also larger stuff. Magnetic cars and their wild Hot Wheels style roadways, what I think is magnetic elevator cubes that travel every which way (that we even get a fight in), and of course the giant through-planet elevator of the Fall. At times, things reek a bit of CG and it feels noticeable in a way that you don’t feel like is meant to call your attention to it, but most the time it just looks fine like the robots or fancy like the holographic and explosions. Action scenes are abundant and pretty cool, complete with one that’s a one-take. At times the editing for the fights can take a little away from the fight in it’s attempt to make it cooler or more deep, but the mileage on how much that part catches you will largely depend on if you share the same wavelength as what the cinematography intended. Either way, it’s largely not sickeningly cut-happy and pretty fun to watch even if being able to break out of a robot’s grip with seemingly not a lot of effort seems a bit unflattering for the robot.
Audio is there. Balance is good, and you can hear the lines and deliveries fine. Most those deliveries are done decent enough as mentioned when it came to the acting section, some could be a little more lively. Music is kicking around, doing it’s background role, and completely vanishes from my head by the end. I think at one point during a scene on a street getting close to a club I thought “that’s some nice little dubstep right there” - but outside of that it’s a total blank slate of my mind by the time credits roll around. There some stuff for the thoughtful type - largely to do with the who am I aspect of it, but you could probably eek out some stuff about feeling disillusioned with normal life, classism, government overreach and warmongering, and just how intelligent it might be to chemically juice your brain with memories.
New type of hand-phone.
It’s not the worst movie you have ever seen, and certainly has it’s moments. I’d call it a mediocre or perhaps forgettable at worst - and part of that is just having seen so many of the things I’ve seen lending it to not feel all that unique. At times aspects could be improved, but overall it’s not a regrettable watch as a general use popcorn sitter with some good looks. Where the real fun comes in is when we decide to get into the comparison stuff when we get to part 2 with the original Recall flick - but as a stand alone in a vacuum movie, it’s decent enough with some decent actors you’ll recognize from other movies doing some cool fights and action scenes in a movie surrounded by good effects.