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I went in to this movie with mixed feelings on it. I really enjoy the original movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and knew if I expected the same thing I would be disappointed, so tried to go in looking at it as being a completely new movie. I am glad I did, but there was just enojugh in here to remind you that it is a remake of the original.
The first major change is that it does not take place on Mars, this was a big surprise for me as Mars is central to the original, and where much of the action takes place. This movie is set between two places, The Colony, better known to us as Austrailia, and United Federation of Britain (UFB). Chemical warfare has killed off the rest of the planet and made it uninhabitable. Many workers from The Colony work at the UFB and travel to work on a giant gravity elevator that goes through the earth. During this process gravity in the lift changes, which produces some great effect, and this lift, is central to the story.
The special effects in the movie are brilliant, and come thick and fast, which are jaw dropping at times, and the environment in which they are in are brilliant. I love the settings of both UFB and The Colony. Both very different but both visually stunning. I was really impressed, specifically with The Colony, it was really believable.
The story was quite different. In this version Quaid is brainwashed and living with his wife, that has been placed there and is really a UFB agent. But alot of the dialogue between the two was very reminiscent of the original, while I was watching it, I thought it was exactly the same in places.
Quaid goes to Rekall, because he is having dreams that he is a secret agent, and the doctor at Rekall is none other than John Cho (Harold from Harold and Kumar). He doesn't even get his implat before the robot police storm in and he takes them all out having some sort of memory as his former life as a secret agent.
At this point I will just let you know that this is when it started to remind me of 'I, Robot', as opposed to Total Recall, and I had this feeliing throughout the movie, the modern technology and the designs, make it feel more like 'I, Robot'.
Qauid soon discovers that he is a double agent from UFB who goes undercover to infiltrate the Resistance and then discovers he is on the wrong side. The basic plot is that UFB want to invade and destory the Colony so they can repopulate it themselves as space is the most precious comodity. Quaid/Hauser is trying to stop the invasion from happening.
The plot is pretty thin to be fair, with plot holes left, right and centre. Some things just plain didn't make sense to me. Quaid's former wife is hell bent on stopping him, because people used to talk about him as being the best secret agent, and she is jealous?
The ending does give you some kind of a pay off with slightly more closure than the original, but you just don't have as much connection to the characters, and I didnt feel bought into the story.
I must point out my favourite bit is when Quaid is going throught security to UFB, and there is a woman infront of him, reminiscent of the woman who Arnie is dressed up as on Mars, who is asked how long she is staying for, in which she replies 'Two weeks'. This was a nice little touch from the original.
Colin Farrell plays a pretty decent part, but everyone was were pretty forgetable.
Overall, this movie was somewhat enjoyable, but I felt a little let down. If it wasn't for the original, this would just be another Sci-Fi movie, high on special effects, less attention to everything else. It is definately not the 1990 classic, but if you are a fan of the original it is worth watching.