I was fond of the 1990 "Total Recall" movie and it had some great ideas and concepts. And when this movie was announced, it was with a great level of skepticism from my side. I don't really get the Hollywood fetish with remaking old movies. But having seen this 2012 version, I must admit that it wasn't bad. It was actually rather enjoyable.
However, it just requires you to forget about having seen the 1990 version, because there are a great many similarities between the two, but at the same time they are two completely different movies. The 1990 version had some good sides and bad sides, just as this 2012 version do.
For starters, then this version is a visual treat. There are so many really cool effects and details. The design of the cities was really impressive to me. I enjoyed those multiple layer designs there was to almost everything in the cities. However, I didn't fully grasp the director's fetish about having everything be Asian-influenced. The robots in the movie were really interesting in design and appearance, I was really impressed with those.
The action in the movie, of which there is quite a lot, is nicely executed and visually nice to look at as well. There is a lot of gun fighting and brawling. Not to forget about all the physical acrobats where people are jumping around the multiple levels of the cities. It is all very impressive to look at.
Story-wise, well then the two movie are fairly much alike. There are some deviations, but in overall it is basically the same, except on takes place on Mars while the other takes place on Earth. So it might be a matter of personal preference of to which one is more lenient.
Something I was missing in this version was Benny (who was in the 1990 version), his character was great then and would have been a great addition to the 2012 version. Also it would have been rather impressive (and fun) if they had managed to gotten some from the original cast to appear as small cameo appearances; for example Schwarzenegger passing by Hauser somewhere and just do something as simple as nod approvingly to him and greet him by saying "Hauser". Something like that would have been the icing on the cake.
As for the people they had opted to go with for this 2012 version, well I must say that they were really right on the money. Normally I am not much of a fan of Colin Farrell's work, but he did quite a good job in this movie. As did Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy and John Cho (actually great to see him out of the usual goofy comedy roles).
All in all, then "Total Recall" (2012) is a great action movie that actually doesn't add to insult to the original 1990 version, which tend to be the case with these Hollywood remakes. I enjoyed both version for what they were and represented. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed the Schwarzenegger version.
However, it just requires you to forget about having seen the 1990 version, because there are a great many similarities between the two, but at the same time they are two completely different movies. The 1990 version had some good sides and bad sides, just as this 2012 version do.
For starters, then this version is a visual treat. There are so many really cool effects and details. The design of the cities was really impressive to me. I enjoyed those multiple layer designs there was to almost everything in the cities. However, I didn't fully grasp the director's fetish about having everything be Asian-influenced. The robots in the movie were really interesting in design and appearance, I was really impressed with those.
The action in the movie, of which there is quite a lot, is nicely executed and visually nice to look at as well. There is a lot of gun fighting and brawling. Not to forget about all the physical acrobats where people are jumping around the multiple levels of the cities. It is all very impressive to look at.
Story-wise, well then the two movie are fairly much alike. There are some deviations, but in overall it is basically the same, except on takes place on Mars while the other takes place on Earth. So it might be a matter of personal preference of to which one is more lenient.
Something I was missing in this version was Benny (who was in the 1990 version), his character was great then and would have been a great addition to the 2012 version. Also it would have been rather impressive (and fun) if they had managed to gotten some from the original cast to appear as small cameo appearances; for example Schwarzenegger passing by Hauser somewhere and just do something as simple as nod approvingly to him and greet him by saying "Hauser". Something like that would have been the icing on the cake.
As for the people they had opted to go with for this 2012 version, well I must say that they were really right on the money. Normally I am not much of a fan of Colin Farrell's work, but he did quite a good job in this movie. As did Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy and John Cho (actually great to see him out of the usual goofy comedy roles).
All in all, then "Total Recall" (2012) is a great action movie that actually doesn't add to insult to the original 1990 version, which tend to be the case with these Hollywood remakes. I enjoyed both version for what they were and represented. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed the Schwarzenegger version.