More dull than you would expect from Schwarzenegger.

Rating: 1/10 (18 November 2000)

* and 1/2 stars out of ****
I like Arnold Schwarzenegger and his movies. He may never win an Oscar, but he knows how to crank out entertaining cinema, with thrilling action films like the Terminator movies, True Lies, and even End of Days. I, however do not like director Paul Verhoeven, who has the tendency to take good ideas and screw them up. Total Recall is a film full of intriguing, and even marvelous, ideas. It's only unfortunate that nothing too significant is done with these ideas.
Memories. It's an intriguing concept because it seems to define who we are. Without them, we just wouldn't be ourselves. This is the backdrop of Total Recall, which is probably a far better setup than the film deserves. Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker who lives a seemingly happy life far in the future. He has a lovely wife (Sharon Stone) and a good home.
But, lately, he's been having dreams about a dark-haired woman (Rachel Ticotin), with the both of them on the planet Mars, which is currently turmoil because of a megalomaniac (Ronny Cox). Then, Quaid decides to go to Rekall, Inc., a company that lets you experience a fantasy world. His recent dreams have compelled him to go through with this fanatasy. But just as he's about to begin the "vacation", something goes wrong and he's thrown out of the building.
More problems begin to occur as everybody Quaid knows seems to be after him, even his wife. He eventually begins to believe that all his memories are false, and his search for his true identity leads him to Mars and the dark-haired woman of his dreams.
Yes, the plot sounds interesting, and the added mercenaries that are after him seem like it would give them a pace that speeds along, but it really doesn't. After a very absorbing first half hour, everything starts to go downhill from there. The action scenes simply aren't exciting, just gory and gruesome, something typical of Verhoeven. Sometimes, the choreography can even get downright laughable. Thinking of that, I am reminded of the endless kicks to the crotch that Stone delivers to Schwarzenegger, which looks more goofy than anything else. Now, Verhoeven can direct superb action scenes (i.e. Starship Troopers) but his work here is rather lackluster, as is his handling with the script.
The reasons behind the lack of excitement could lie in the fact that Schwarzenegger never really seems all that scared. He initially tries that, but as soon as the film sets on Mars, he acts very cocky, like he could take on anybody. His reaction to what's going on around is far from believable, and it might actually have been a better idea to bring somebody in less physically imposing (which reminds me of the upcoming film Impostor, which sounds similar in plot and stars the splendid Gary Sinise, a perfect actor for the role needed).
The worst part is, there's an unpredictable plot twist that seems to pop up every half hour that perks your interest up and leads you to believe the film will get better. It doesn't. After the momentary jolt of surprise (I did really enjoy the last twist, which is quite shocking), everything falls back down to Earth (or is it Mars?), and the boredom sets in again.
The set design and special effects can be impressive, but everything starts to look hazy and unpleasant after a while. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it could be the choice of color shades the director chose to shoot the film with.
The performances don't really amount to much of anything. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays himself again, but a little less convincingly than usual. Sharon Stone is sexy and seductive as Quaid's deadly wife, but she's not given much more to do other than shout, show cleavage, and kick Scwarzenegger around. Rachel Ticotin is simply awful, and I would have prefered if her role had been switched around with Stone.
Mars is a fascinating planet that always looks like it's harboring some sort of secret. Total Recall has that element in its script, but it doesn't do anything significant with it. As a matter of fact, just slight changes around and I don't think this film would even need the Mars setting. As it is, the best film about this red planet is still Brian De Palma's underrated Mission to Mars.