Consider that a divorce. Len Wiseman unveils his futuristic Total Recall reboot.
Release date: August 22.
The cast: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston.
The pitch: Director Len Wiseman, he of Underworld and Die Hard 4.0 fame, gives us his vision of Philip K Dick's short story, 'We Can Remember it For You Wholesale'. With two nation states – Euromerica and New Shanghai – vying for supremacy, the film sees a humble factory worker (Farrell) begin to suspect that he is a spy, although he’s unaware just where hs allegiances are supposed to lie. Hollywood chaos ensues.
The buzz: With the full-length trailer released last Sunday, much of buzz up until now has focused solely on how closely this film will follow Paul Verhoeven's 1990 release of the same name – and rightfully so. You don’t just remake a cult classic without a damn good reason.
Reasons this could be good: Bryan Cranston. The Breaking Bad actor is destined to steal absolutely every scene possible as resident bad guy Cohaagen.
Reasons this could be bad: Get your ass to mars, because this is just too bloody sensible and dare we say it, a tad boring. The first film had its flaws, but it was also fun, namely because in true Verhoeven style, it was absolutely ridiculous. Case in point: mutants, midget prostitutes, holograms, Arnie adopting myriad gurning techniques, tri-titted chicks – need we say more?
The verdict: Fancy flying cars, nifty looking armed guards, but very little to suggest that this film will be any different to the original. We’re sure more details will be dripfed in the lead up to its August release, but as it stands, Total Recall looks like nothing more than a blow-for-blow modern-day reproduction. Snooze.
Best bit: 02.17 – Some slick looking CGI trickery at work, in what we can only assume is an update of this memorable (bat shit crazy) scene.
