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Rating: 4 out of 5
Total Recall is one of those Arnold Schwarzenegger’s films where Arnold actually does some good acting along with being a really entertaining movie. I would say that this is a Top 5 Arnold movie. The film is really good with action, suspense, and some twist and turns. Also, the visual effects and storyline are outstanding in this film. Who would’ve thought that Arnold being a spy while his memories are messed up would be a decent movie?
Total Recall beings in the year 2084. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is an everyday construction worker. His life seems normal as he is married to the oh so beautiful Lori (Stone). Quaid has been dissatisfied with his life as he has been having nightmares about life on the planet Mars. In the dreams, Quaid dreams of a life on Mars and another beautiful woman. Lori teases him about his dreams and plays it off as just that. Quaid becomes more and more curious about his dream until he sees an ad on the subway for Rekall Inc. This company sells false memories of ideal holidays and adventures. After asking around, Quaid decides to visit Rekall and orders a unique package that will implant memories of an adventure trip on Mars as a secret agent. Before the memory implantation procedure can begin, Quaid loses his mind and goes into a violent rage. He beings to rant about his cover being blown and how men are coming to kill him. After being sedated, the technicians realize that Doug’s memory had previously been erased. To cover their involvement, the Rekall director orders his team to erase his memories of Rekall, refund his credits, and send him home.
When Quaid arrives home to Lori, he explains what happens. Things take a turn when Lori becomes pissed that her cover was blown and is an agent. She claims his whole life is a fake, and he isn’t who he is. Discovering he is Hauser, a former Mars Intelligence agent, Quaid goes to the colony on Mars searching for answers. He meets Melina (Ticotin), the woman he has been dreaming about and one who is working for rebels. Melina tells him that the assassins are working for Vilos Cohaggen (Cox), the colony’s corrupt administrator. As Quaid sets out to discover who he is and why Cohaagen is after him, he soon learns that the reason he is on Mars can change that world forever.
I’m not going to lie, but this film was actually entertaining. It is definitely violent and has a lot of action, but it works. Knowing that it is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, there is bound to be a ton of killing, and sure enough, there was endless violence but let’s start off with the story. At first, the story was meh because it seemed to be about a person who just wanted to escape his natural life through fantasy. Yea, Quaid was a construction worker, but the dude had a BEAUTIFUL wife. When he gets the memory of being a secret agent on Mars put in, you are like whatever. Then all hell breaks loose when homeboy snaps and claims that he is a secret agent. When he starts getting chased by almost everyone and finds out that he is actually a secret agent, you will definitely move to the edge of your seat to see what will happen. When homeboy gets on Mars, he might as well call it a wrap because the movie goes into nonstop craziness. We talking about gunfire, mutants, more special effects than ever, and a planet getting oxygen from alien technology.
The area this film EXCELS at is with the freakin special effects and CGI. You want to talk about some high-quality special effects, then look at this film. Now the scenes of Mars look like a photoshop background. It is just red with barren mountains. Nothing special at all. Now the first scene that was pretty cool was when Quaid walked through the subway line. To see an x-ray of his body to see if he had a weapon was crazy. The two iconic scenes where the special effects might blow your mind are pulling the tracking device from his head and the woman’s head removal scene. The tracing removal scene was jaw-dropping because you can tell it is fake and robotic, but it looked so cool. Now the woman head scene in the airport is one that will make you go DAMN! Once again, totally fake but not much CGI. To see the head come off is one to watch.
Now the science behind this film is really laughable. I don’t know if mutation would be possible, but some people in this film were beyond alien-like. One dude named Benny had an extra arm, but the arm looked like a praying mantis type arm. Then we get to the prominent mutant called Kuato. This thing looked like a large pimple that hadn’t been popped in years. It grew to the size of a small alien baby. It was pretty nasty to look at. Also, the whole being outside of space thing was pretty funny. When I heard about being out in space, you would just freeze up and die. This movie takes it to a whole NEW LEVEL! Rather than you freezing, you suffocate with your eyes popping out. It is pretty intense looking.
Even though this was an action movie, I will give credit to Arnold. He did a really good job portraying his character. Yea, the cheesy lines are still there, and it’s Arnold, but this acting is a little bit better than any of his earlier films where he played the macho, overly strong good guy.
Total Recall is one of those films that is beyond entertaining and fun to watch. The storyline is pretty good, and the special effects were pretty significant for its day. Arnold does a good job leading this film. Maybe one day, we can see and live on Mars.
