Total Recall (2012) [Review by Guest Reviewer- Arnab Goswami]Directed by Lens Wiseman
Starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel
Douglas Quaid(Colin Farrell) is a factory worker who commutes daily from the Colony to the United federation of Britain via the 'Fall' - a mass rapid transit system that goes through the Earth's core to connect the only 2 habitable parts of the world on its diametrically opposite ends. He has a beautiful wife Lori (the extremely beautiful Kate Beckinsale) who is simply too beautiful to be truly his wife and yet she is. The mundane nature of his work tires his mind so much that an ad for 'Rekall' - a company that promises to replace your mind's current memories with memories you would like to have such as secret fantasies, unrealized ambitions and so on, really catches his eye. He goes there 1 day and opts for 'Rekall'. It is then that they realize that his memories had already been erased and altered. All hell breaks loose as the moment his mind i
s touched, the authorities come to take him. Douglas Quaid is now a wanted man on the run who may in reality have been a secret agent in the past. What happens next??
'Total Recall' is a very well made film from a technical point of view with a highly engaging background score. What it sorely lacks is any soul or emotion. Other than that, it is quite a good watch. Colin Farrell gives a sincere performance as the worried and tense looking Quaid. However, it is the intensity of Kate Beckinsale's performance which drives the film to quite an extent. In fact, she may even be the best female action star of our time. Jessica Biel is completely wasted in this one. There are several action sequences which are very impressive and the CGI looks real for the most part. But in this age of Bourne Identity and the lot, lots of stuff feel familiar. However, it's Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale who drive this film and the result is worth watching once. If the film had at least some emotion, it would have been a lot better. Oh and, they could have thrown in a couple of jokes too!!!
