A Visual Eye-Candy

Once again, contrary to critics' unfavourable reviews, I like Len Wiseman's Total Recall - a remake of the 1990 movie featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone. Don't get me wrong, this is not thought-provoking science fiction, but two straight hours of non-stop action and entertainment.

I like Len Wiseman's direction. After all, he's most famous for blockbusters like Men in Black, Live Free or Die Hard and Independence Day. One should never question whether the plot makes sense in such kind of movies. But think along the lines of a simplified version of Inception - layers and layers of dreams and nightmares; past, present and future; and the good versus the evil. Like the film's protagonist Douglas Quaid/Hauser (played by Colin Farrell), we, as the audience, also constantly question ourselves - is this a dream or is this the reality? Are we seeing Quaid or Hauser?

Colin Farrell is a very strong actor (remember his performance in Phone Booth?), but his talent is under-utilized in his role as a beefcake double agent in this movie. I never like Kate Beckinsale as an actor, but I can see why her husband picked her for this role after the duo's partnership in the ridiculously successful Underworld franchises. She also did her action scenes well. Jessica Biel looks cool and pretty but, frankly speaking, any Hollywood actress could have played her role as Melina. The villain's role is always the most challenging. But Bryan Cranston is just not the right actor for his role as Cohaagen. And what a big waste of talent - Cranston's mesmerizing performance as Walter White in award-winning TV drama Breaking Bad still haunts me!

The other reason why I like this movie is the familiar Toronto scenes - the movie was shot in 2011 in both Toronto and Guelph. But as a Torontonian, you can recognize Commerce Court, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the University of Toronto.

All in all, I would categorize Total Recall as a visual eye-candy!