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Total Recall


Total Recall

Paul Verhoeven, 1990



Previous to watching this film, Paul Verhoeven had been a hit and miss director for me. Whilst I enjoyed his futuristic crime sci-fi satire Robocop, I disliked the ridiculously shallow Basic Instinct, a film where we watch Michael Douglas sleep with Sharon Stone for a couple of hours.

Total Recall looked more like my cup of tea, and within the first quarter of an hour, I was hooked. I think the main strength was clear from the off; an intelligent story that makes full use of the futuristic sci-fi setting, exploring the possibilities of mind/memory control. What made Robocop so interesting is the way it uses the setting and story to take aim at modern society, and more important the large corporations that control it. Similar themes are evident here and are extremely relevant in today’s modern society, large companies, and monopolies deliberating regulating supply in order to gain money and power, with personal benefit put ahead of the needs of the people.

The story and its elements, whilst not entirely original, are executed perfectly. The film will evoke similar films from the genre in how it deals with memory and identity: Blade Runner, The Matrix and Dark City, but what is fresh is the more light hearted way in which it does so, staying true to its satirical comedic tone and action driven style throughout.

Whilst Arnold Schwarzenegger’s serious acting leaves a lot to be desired, I can have no complaints over his role in which he is perfectly cast, bringing a welcome amount of comedy to the film, as well as, of course, being the part for a number of action scenes. Straight from the off Verhoeven makes full use of the elaborate sets, they are big, blocky and matched with the effects can perhaps be described as cheesy, but they make for a whole lot of fun.

There are many great moments throughout the film, I was aware of the famous head mask removal scene and the woman with three boobs long before I had seen either properly. And there is a great array of supporting characters, all unpredictable and with their own motives that keep popping up to provide us with problems. I particularly enjoyed Sharon Stone here, where instead of being a one note sex object like Basic Instinct, proves to be an effective cunning villain, with her final scene providing possibly my favourite line of the film, along with "Get your ass to Mars."

Total Recall is a film I would recommend to everyone, it works on almost every level. Going in you know you are going to get entertaining violent sci-fi action, but it would be a disservice to the film to label it simply a guilty pleasure, it’s much more intelligent and well made. I thought I was going to enjoy it, but I think I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the film.

Rating:
+