Big sci-fi fun

Rating: 8/10 (31 August 2012)

Manual worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), mildly out of sorts with life, takes a virtual holiday with Recall, a company which implants exciting memories of the holiday you didn't have (as, for instance, a spy). Armed police suddenly invade the place, and Doug finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy where his is a double (or triple) agent who has had his memories replaced with fake ones, is married to someone who is actually an agent/minder and not really his wife (Sharon Stone, in her breakout role), and ends up plotting against (or possibly unwittingly for), dictator Kolhaagen (Ronnie Cox) while falling in with his real lover (or is she) Melina (Rachel Ticotin). Or is this all part of his "holiday"?
This brash, ebullient sci-fi romp, based on a Philip K Dick short story, is huge fun. Paul Verhoeven handles the action well, all the actors enjoy themselves (Schwarzenegger's shortcomings as an actor are outweighed by his screen presence and verve), effects, makeup and set design are all excellent, and Sharon Stone is unbelievably sexy.
Plus the story is good fun, and never lets you go.