In a Nutshell: Total Recall

Starring: Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston and Bokeem Woodbine

3 out of 5 Lebowski's

I rate Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone amongst my top 10 greatest action movies of all time. The new Total Recall with Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel is not in my top 10, but this year it is one of a kind, because it’s a lot of fun.

It’s non-stop action, a pulse pounding performance from Beckinsale, and great chemistry between Farrell and Biel. If you haven’t noticed, that’s what I look for in movies.

Relationships can be dry, just like the movie if it leads can’t work well together. The film is so much fun, I honestly was on the edge of my seat the entire film. Especially when the scene stealing Beckinsale graced us with her presence. She is a firecracker in a film that’s already lit with c4. And if you thought that Sharon Stone was really good, and a real bad ass in the 1^st. Kate isn’t as sexy because she isn’t as revealing as Stone, but Kate makes her own path for the film. Which is gorgeous with a strong swift kick of bad ass. She literally beats the crap out of Farrell and Biel the entire movie, as well as beating the hell out of every man’s heart, for wishing she could kick their ass in real life.

Farrell as Douglas Quaid, or is he? Does a great job. Of course he is no Ahhnold but he does a damn good job. Especially in the scenes when you truly feel for him for not knowing his real identity. But it’s more drama when he sees the videos of himself prior to the memory crash, leaving clues behind. While Ahhnold’s was a lot more twisted, comical and insane all rolled into one.  

The film has its own good additions, especially revving up Beckinsale, and making her more important and more lethal than Sharon Stone was in the 1^st. Though the film is mostly hit on the upgrades, especially with the special effects and a certain 3 breasted beauty, the film has it’s very bad misses. The clues left behind on video were one of them, and not having a scene as good as that old ladies head blowing up in the airport, with Ahhnold’s head underneath, is a huge let down.

But at the end of the day, there is no point to make this review an explanation of the plot of the movie. Because ultimately, it is a remake.

And no matter how much fun I had, which I did, it’s still a remake. It’s not an original idea.

In a nutshell, Total Recall with Ahhnold is a classic, and Total Recall with Colin Farrell is an extremely noble effort in striking magic twice. It did, but just like the new Conan The Barbarian, it’s unnecessary,