Though fans of Paul Verhoeven’s original have protested with cries of ‘Too soon!’ (a criticism justifiably leveled at many modern remakes), it’s easy to forget that it’s actually 22-years old. What isn’t so easy to forget is that it’s also bloody brilliant – perhaps Arnie’s finest ever – and Len Wiseman’s updated version had better be pretty spectacular if it’s going to impress cinemagoers.
Whilst Colin Farrell stars (a perfectly acceptable lead), Wiseman is less of a dead cert – sure, DIE HARD 4.0 may bode well, but his work on the UNDERWORLD films does not. All early snippets of the new TOTAL RECALL look worryingly similar to every other throwaway sci-fi actioner from the last decade – MINORITY REPORT, SURROGATES, and I, ROBOT to name a few.
What will hopefully save the movie is if it manages to distance itself from the original, and take a fresh approach to the source material, ‘We Can Remember It For You Wholesale’ by Phillip K. Dick. Let’s hope the powers that be have decided to make the story their own rather than retread the beloved original.
Still, never ones to write off a film before we’ve seen it (though you wouldn’t know it from reading this), here’s a batch of new images from the upcoming movie…
TOTAL RECALL co-stars Bryan Cranston, Jessica Biel, and Bill Nighy. It arrives in UK cinemas 19th August.
Source: ComicBookMovie
