Total Recall (1990)
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Total Recall Movie Review
Total Recall is a 1990 sci-fi action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s a flawed, but mostly very entertaining and memorable flick.
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“Consider that a divorce!“
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It follows a construction worker who suddenly finds himself embroiled in espionage on Mars and unable to determine if the experiences are real or the result of memory implants. This real or not real storyline is usually not my cup of tea, but it was solidly done here. I also really liked the overall story which was quite memorable and original, as is to be expected from Philip K. Dick as he usually writes very interesting SF tales.
I wanted a bigger exploration of Mars, but the build-up towards arriving on it was great and the entire concept is excellent with the ending being superb. I really enjoyed the sci-fi elements in this film and whenever the movie focused on them, it was terrific. However, it’s also an action film and to me it’s an action film first and SF second and that bothered me.
Now, I did like the action here for the most part as it was a lot of fun and genuinely well executed, especially in the thrilling first half. But in the second half it started to bother me a bit as it became an all-out shoot-em-up in style which is certainly not for me and thus I was quite bored in some of those bombastic sequences. But most of the film is still quite fun.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger is especially bad here as he has way too much dialogue for his lack of acting caliber. This role should have gone to a charismatic, but more capable acting talent. The one-liners suited him, but otherwise he felt rote and terrible in almost each and every delivery and thus hurt the film tremendously.
Melina is a fine character and quite proactive as well. Sharon Stone as Lori Quaid is actually excellent as this badass female villain with killer fighting moves. The other characters aren’t as important, but are quite colorful and there are some interesting twists with them that really worked well.
Total Recall looks awesome for a 1990 flick. It is easy to see why this was one of the most expensive movies back in its day and that level of commitment paid off as the film looks excellent with the Martian landscapes being well realized and all of the gadgetry looks very dated, but for its time all are terrific and well imagined. The cars in particular look dated as hell, but also quite cute. I personally really adored the world building efforts put here and I just wished that we spent more time in each location and with all the tech showcased in here.
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I actually really liked the humor in this film. Yes, it’s ridiculously over-the-top, but it did work for the most part and I did laugh more than a couple of times at its silly one-liners were meant to not be taken seriously so the tone worked for me in the end and the same goes for the silly dialogue. But the acting across the board could have been better, though the direction and of course a very cool score are both great. It’s not a timeless classic of the genre, but it is a classic from this decade.
Total Recall is mostly a hugely entertaining movie that is definitely flawed in some areas such as excessive action in the second half and weak acting with Arnold Schwarzenegger being miscast here, but the action in the first half is a lot of fun, the SF elements are interesting and the overall story is very memorable as is the score and some of the easily recognized imagery.
