Total Recall fails to impress
'Total Recall' earned $26 million over the weekend, which was a disappointing opening for a big action flick remake, but it missed a key ingredient.
Where was the humour in Sony's remake? What made the original a cult classic was its originality and the purposely cheesy and larger than life dialogue. It was a film that got fans of the genre talking, and if it had been released today, the buzz around it would have been huge.
I think one of the major problems with the new film was the choice of it's star: Colin Farrell. He just couldn't be expected to replace the larger than life presence of Schwarzenegger. If the film's producers had cast Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson I honestly think people would have gone to see this, because Arnie fans could have related to it better. It's also about the fact that the original was so out there, it was a thrill to go along with it. We didn't take it seriously and the characters were over-the-top. In this remake, it's a serious action movie. Granted, it's production standard is exceptional, but the story and it's 'heart' is not there for the fans. It's not funny and there's no point watching a re-hash unless it's going to be funnier, more thrilling and takes us on a different quest.