So much better than "Inception"...

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2015)

A film like Verhooven's "Total Recall" is the ultimate proof that it doesn't take a brochette of the most 'in' and bankable stars, an overdose of digital effects or different exotic locations Ã la James Bond to convince the audience they got it worth the price of their ticket and their butter pop-corn box.
Story-wise, you don't need a 'serious' underacting hero, you know with the emotional scar in his heart, the 'mysterious' spot of a haunting past that keeps drawing a constipated deadpan look. You don't need some gimmicky symbolism or a juxtaposition of universes, to make an entertaining AND intelligent AND multi-layered movie.
"Total Recall" is the proof that you don't need to make a seemingly intelligent film to be taken seriously. You don't achieve worldwide popularity by playing it dark and sinister. "Inception" did but it was a project of a lifetime, Nolan's darling, reuniting a stellar cast, a sure Oscar-win for the Screenplay etc. etc. Verhooven only made the usual 90's film with an action star, he didn't play it like Bergman, he didn't overdo the special-effect aspect, he made an entertaining flick yet in a scene where Arnold is confronted to Edgemar telling it's all a dream, you got to scratch your head.
Yes, it's full of cheesy one-liners punctuating two gunshots, but I'd take that over any close- up on Leo's deep introspective look. I'd take Sharon Stone's (so to speak) over any Marion Cotillard, and her fight with the sleazy and demure brunette Rachel Ticotin over any Ellen Page disguised a businessman. Yes, "Inception" is made of dazzling landscapes and interminable buildings but it has no wisecracking Johnnie-Cab, no Rekall company asking you to choose the memory of a lifetime (one of the best scenes), no two-headed mutants, three-breast prostitutes, no Last Resort, no Cuato who seems like Churchill sculpted in a belly, no eye-popping when you try to breathe the atmosphere of Mars.
"Inception" took its imagery for granted but didn't provide what we expect from movies : escapism .. and aren't dreams the ultimate sources of escapism?
"Total Recall" was about the same idea of memories-implants, it leaves as many interrogation marks as "Inception" and even at the end, we're not sure what is true and what is a dream, but we had a great time watching this film, for all these little aspects I mentioned, it had the Martian landscape in the background and it was enough, the rest looked faker than anything from Nolan's "Inception" but are we that difficult in the 'suspension of disbelief' department.
"Inception" was made and sold as a complex (understand intelligent) movie, "Total Recall" as an entertaining pop-corn flick, but lying underneath the action-adventure facade, there was some intelligence in "Total Recall", after all an adaptation from Philip K. Dick's novel. On the other hand, "Inception", as intelligent as it was, wasn't fun to watch ... because it was entrapped in its own concept, while in "Total Recall", the concept was only the trigger to the action, it still had a story to tell and some actions to show instead of keeping on 'wowing' us on the intelligence of the script..
I guess that's symptomatic of what is wrong with filmmaking today, a movie is marketed to appeal to audience in so many criteria, so many blanks you got to fill that what you've got is an easy win, this is how technical perfectionism killed pure and fun creativity.