Total Recall 2: An Uninitiated Perspective

In somewhat of a cardinal sin move for an editor of a geek blog, I'm going to openly admit I have not seen the original Total Recall. Yeah, I know. Go ahead and let me have it, we all have those movies that for whatever reason we never get around to. What do I know about the original movie? Arnold's in it, it's on Mars, and there's a three boobed chick somewhere in the middle of all that. You don't have to tell me it's a fantastic piece of cinema, I've already heard it numerous times and I promise at some point I will see it, although watching the reboot makes me not want to.

But it's not because I thought it sucked.

In fact, I rank the reboot my fourth favorite movie of the Summer (hard to compete with Avengers, Batman, and Prometheus) topping The Bourne Legacy despite my fandom for the series. Why did I like it? The visuals were fantastic, the action was non-stop, and Colin Farrell was nothing less than fantastic the entirety of the film. No it didn't take long for me to realize that it wasn't him still hooked up to the machine, but I have to say there were moments where I had my doubts. It wasn't one of the stronger points of the film, but in no way did it hinder the fun ride it took me on through the length of the film.

So you can imagine my surprise when I got online the following day to see the beating it took from critics universally with most, if not all, citing the original. I get it, it wasn't as good as the original. Perhaps it is the fault of the filmmakers for not giving the film a different title to a film with basic qualities of the original (ala Alien to Prometheus).  I cannot say the blame falls on the acting with Kate Beckinsale doing a great job playing a really unlikeable b**** and Bryan Cranston reminding me of a Hal'd (Malcolm in The Middle reference) out Heisenberg in the best way imaginable. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that coming from a guy who hasn't seen the original, Total Recall 2012 was actually a fairly good sci-fi film. You may agree with me, you may not. Whatever the case if you ever get around to seeing it I suggest you try to think of it as a stand alone as much as your mind can allow you to.

Email Me: MickJoest@Geektyrant.com Twitter: @MickJoest