Reviews

It was fine and I really enjoyed certain parts (the customs sequence with the robot woman and the part in the hotel where Doug is being "talked down" from his dream), but it kind of dragged in parts and the quippiness got on my nerves at times.

Now here's where it gets a bit tricky: After people start acting fishy towards him, including one of his co-workers, it turns out his wife is not his real wife, but intended as a permanent distraction so he would forget about who he used to be and what he did on Mars.

Most of the moments are a result of special effects and while Paul Verhoeven certainly deserves a great deal of credit for how he handles and incorporates the effects into the film, the real praise must go to the film's F/X maestro Rob Bottin.

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.

So let's recap for me: this is my fave Dick flick, my fave Verhoeven, fave Schwarzenegger, favorite Mars flick, fave Cox performance, vote for one of the fastest movies ever, a film which seems to be neverending in its visual wit, crypticness and general crowd-pleasing nature.