If there is one thing that an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is supposed
to provide it is an escape from reality that allows your brain a much
needed two hour rest. This, friends, is what makes "Total Recall"
such an enigma. It actually challenges the mind to unravel the complexities
of it's plot in a manner similar to what one does when watching films
like "Memento"
or "Vanilla
Sky".
Have no fear though. Arnold still delivers a nice pile of dead bodies
through the use of practically every method at his disposal. Unlike
most lame action heroes, Arnold is wise enough to shoot no less than
three of his enemies in the head. That's right. The head! As an added
bonus he also drives a spike into a guy's neck, uses a civilian as
a shield, and drills another guy to death. Much the same as in "Commando",
only with more gore, Arnold has instituted a Zero Tolerance policy
for taking shit from people. It's pretty simple. You annoy Arnold.
You die. And you know what? I loved every minute of it.
This film challenges the viewer by way of it's deceptively complex
plotting. It all starts with Doug Quaid (Arnold) being decidedly bored
with his life (despite the fact that he wakes up next to Sharon Stone
every morning), which leads to him going to a place that specializes
in delivering people's dreams as true memories. He has been having
these nagging dreams of Mars and wants to act upon them, so he signs
up for the "Ego Trip" which provides the customer with a
two week secret agent fantasy. The only trouble is... Problems arise
during the procedure, Quaid goes nuts, and all hell breaks lose. But
were there problems during the procedure, or is everything that happens
from that point on merely a dream? That's for you, the viewer, to
decide.
That's a pretty thinly veiled plot outline, but I feel it would be
a disservice to those who have not yet seen the film to divulge any
of the details of the plot. All I will say is that Arnold goes to
Mars, bumps into a bunch of mutants, and kills practically everybody
on the planet before all is said and done. He does this because he
is pissed. He is pissed because everybody is trying to kill him. I
don't know about you, but that works for me.
Not only do you get the aforementioned body count, but you also get
some of Arnold's most memorable one liners. During the drilling the
guy to death sequence I mentioned earlier, Arnold grabs a drill and
uses it to kill a guy in some sort of excavating machine while yelling
"Screw you!" at the guy. Tell me that doesn't rock. You
can't! Another great one is the "Consider that a divorce"
line that you will learn to love if you watch the film some day.
Aside from Arnold delivering on his promise of dead bodies and one
liners, you also get director Paul Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct",
"Robocop") delivering on his signature self indulgent need
to film gore and tits at every opportunity. Unlike some of his other
movies, it works here, because it never takes itself too seriously.
I mean come on! You've got a Martian Sex Club loaded with interesting
specimens such as a three titted woman and a midget whore as one of
the principal venues! It's played chiefly for laughs and I enjoyed
every minute of it. This film is one of the rare instances where Verhoeven's
involvement in a film actually paid off by making it better.
This may not be the best of Arnold's films, but it's defnitely the
most challenging. Valid arguments can be made on either side of the
dream or reality debate with no real resolution available. I side
with reality, but you can come to your own conclusion if you'd just
go and watch the movie already!
If the challenges of the plot aren't enough for you, just keep in
mind that there is an action sequence that involves the midget whore
stabbing a guy in the crotch and then, shortly thereafter, laying
waste to a group of henchmen with a machine gun.
Now go and watch it already! You know you want to.
P.S. - I know all the guys out
there are sold on this one. But a word to the wise. If you watch this
one guys, be sure to pull the cup out of the sock drawer because this
movie is tough on the business. Not only does the midget whore stab
a guy in the crotch, but Arnold even gets kneed in the crotch. Twice!
Thus proving that nothing is sacred in action films anymore.
