Was I ever in for a let down....
I'll make it clear now. If you are at all a fan of the original Total Recall, with it's Mars landscapes, artifacts, mutants etc, well this film does not have ANY of that. If you are looking for those things, you will be disappointed.
Mars is mentioned once in this 'remake' but they never go there. Instead, the filmmakers opted to stick to an Earthly locale involving oppressed colonies, robot soldiers and other future technology. While the film LOOKS great and slick and fancy, it's biggest foil, again, is the absence of the Mars related set pieces and plot points.
There are still similarities though. Colin Farrell plays Douglas Quaid, who was the same character played by Schwarzenegger back in the day. Quaid goes to Rekall, a company that implants memories of experiences in your mind, instead of have to actually go do them. When Quaid chooses the fantasy of being a secret agent, little does anyone know it's about to crack open some buried memories of his own.
For fans of the original, you will spot a few 'nods' towards the Arnold classic ("Two Weeks", "You'll Wish You Had Three Hands", etc) but it's not enough to make up for the missing Mars story.
If you've never at all seen the original, I can see how it'd still be enjoyable to watch, but as a big fan of the Arnold version, I really have to recommend not bothering to go see this one. At least not in theaters. Get it on demand later on, but if you want a far better version of this story, check out the original Arnold Schwarzeneggar Total Recall. Though the effects are dated, it's still a great sci fi action flick, and far more enjoyable than this one.
