Len Wiseman’s remake of the classic 1980s sci-fi masterpiece Total Recall was always going to be an uphill battle for everyone involved. First, there is the stigma against remakes in general, paired with the unassailable cult position that the predecessor holds. Then there was the fact that this film version apparently wouldn’t even have the plot taking our hero, Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), to Mars.
Still, curiosity and an approaching release date keep the interest in this one fairly piqued, so it is with great pleasure that I present to you the official synopsis of Total Recall, courtesy of /Film:
“Total Recall” is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he’s got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life – real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police – controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world – Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.
As you can see, aside from the lack of Mars this one seems to tread very similar ground to the original. The first sentence strives, with varying levels of success, to make a point that this remake is not a “remake,” but a reimagining of the original text by famed and prolific science fiction scribe Philip K. Dick, though the rest of the synopsis gives little real indication that such is the case. Just slip the words “get your ass to Mars” in there and you’ve got me fooled.
The film, will hit theaters on August 3rd. Given what we’ve seen/heard thus far, I really don’t know what to think of this film. I’m a Colin Farrell fan — and Wiseman isn’t that much of a slouch in the action department — but a remake by any other name is still a tough sell.
Now that you’ve got the full synopsis, what’s your opinion on this film?