I swore blind that i'd rewatched 'Total Recall' in fairly recent memory…But according to 'Letterboxd' its been at least 5 years since the last spin. This was before I started writing reviews on Letterboxd, and with the missus having never seen it before (but curious to check it out after the Kuato episode of 'Rick and Morty'.) We decided to give it a re-watch So that I can check this one off my 'written review' list.

Honestly; I dont have much to say that hasnt been gushed on by my peers and/or elevated film critics. The wonderfully bizarre decision to adapt this Phillip K. Dick novel of an average 'everyman' in the not too distant future, who decides to try 'Recall' a service that implants memories into your head, creating the illusion that you had a 2 week vacation, for a fraction of the cost. Only to end up having something go wrong, when its revealed theres already a surpressed implaneted memory in his head, and that he may infact be a secret agent undercover who's repressed memories have driven him to seek a Mars Vacation…

Leading to an 'inception before inception' style multi-layer narrative where the viewer is never quite sure if 'Douglas Quaid' IS in fact an international rebel spy double agent set to help fight the rebellion on Mars…or just some schlubby guy in a mental feuge state strapped to a clinic chair…AND THEY DECIDED THAT THE SCHLUBBY EVERYMAN SHOULD BE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER…Is frankly an inspired choice. As was hiring Paul Verhoven (Fresh off the set of 'Robocop') to direct? Genius.

Frankly; I could fawn over this film endlessly. So its probably easier to just pick at the things I didnt like, which stopped it from truely being a perfect Sci-fi movie. My critiques are small, and I dont feel that unfair. One is that I feel the films a bit overlong, the 2nd act could have been refined a little more to bring the film under 100 minutes, theres a lot of 'running down corridors' style padding that I feel drags the film out unnecessarily. I appreciate they want to create a sense of scale and getting close to the 120 runtime means it has the feelings of an 'epic'. But it ran just a little too long for me. 10-15 minutes lopped off, and it'd be goldilocks.

The other issue I have is the tone, I feel 'Demolition Man' handled the Sci-fi Utopia, revealed to be a dystopia. vibes a bit better than this. This film kind of flip-flops between wanting to be seen as a serious action sci-fi flick…While also peppering in liberal amounts of humour and tongue in cheek side eyes to the audience. The trouble is, I dont feel like both elements balance as well as they could. Making some of the comedic moments feel a bit out of place, and making some of the more action heavy moments feel 'throwaway'. Arnie gurning and chuntering out one liners is fun! Dont get me wrong! But at times it feels very forced and undercuts some of the more intense moments of the production. I appreciate that someone will inevitably say 'Well! thats because its ACTUALLY all a dream! Arnies Psychosis is making him quip and be witty, because thats what he thinks a spy would do!!!' and I wont deny that thats a plausible answer…But it still doesnt make me think its good.

HOWEVER! Outside of those two points, we have a pretty clean sweep, the script is clever and funny, gives the audience enough evidence for both sides to be plausably considered, tonally while a little off kilter, its still rock solid for the most part, the dialogue is frankly endlessly quotable. the pacing, a little saggy in the middle, but rock solid otherwise.

On the direction front Verhoven knocks it out of the park. This is probably my second favourite thing he's directed to date. its crazy, over the top action packed silliness dashed with macabre bleakness throughout. And I loved it. I dont feel the mix is *quite* as potent as 'Robocop' But that doesnt mean I cant love it all the same.

The cine is rock solid as well, delivering some genuinely beautiful shots and surreal vivid imagery thats sure to stick in the old noggin long after the credits have rolled. The edit is rock solid as well, with some really nice transition pieces and great use of B-roll.

The performances are superb, with Arnold being a total miscast but somehow it works INCREDIBLY. Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin and Michael Ironside are all frankly incredible here. and the supporting cast blow clean past the brief delivering memorable character and scene, after memorable character and scene. Its casting that shouldnt work. But absolutely 100% does.

The soundtracks a bit mixed. i'd say 75% of the score is superb, perfectly matching the energy needed for whats happening on screen. But 25% just felt odd..Particularly the music and lighting used in 'The Last Resort'…Given Verhoven shot some absolutely incredible nightclub sequences for 'Robocop' the footage in the 'Last Resort' feels almost comical. as we have an evenly lit, warm white nightclub with very few colourful lights, blasting out music that wouldnt be out of place in a genesys era 'Sonic the hedgehog' game. Its a bizarre choice. and mercifully, one of only a very loose handful of incidents across this films runtime where I feel the paint chipped off a little bit.

But thats kind of by the by. 'Total Recall' is an absolutely brilliant piece of escapist Sci-fi fantasy. I would absolutely say its in my top 3 favourite Arnold Schwarzenegger movies . and definitely in my top 3 favourite Paul Verhoven films. Its slightly campy elements mix with dark and brooding action sci-fi to create a wonderful little movie, that I can wholeheartedly recommend. and encourage you to watch (or revisit!) at your next convenience. There are WAY worse ways to spent just shy of 2 hours…believe me.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/total-recall/