Well, it's not a total disaster.

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2002)

5 out of 10
Total Recall is a movie with good ideas, at least for a while. The film toys with the belief that memories make us who we are, a concept that's inherently fascinating (and was done with superior execution in Dark City). Recall is a futuristic thriller that stars Arnold Schwarzennegger as an average joe named Douglas Quaid who finds his life in turmoil after a visit to a Rekall center for a "virtual" vacation. Seemingly everyone is out to kill him, even his wife and friends, he doesn't know who to trust, but believes the answer to his past lies on Mars.
This Arnold Schwarzennegger action vehicle has a superb opening half-hour, mixing just the right amount of intrigue, bloody action, and dark humor to make for a suspenseful mind-boggler. Unfortunately, once the film sets on Mars, it's all mostly downhill from there. Bringing the movie down significantly are a lot of silly subplots focusing on mutant rebels and "instant atmosphere" machines left behind by aliens. The mutants, in particular, are extremely annoying, and quite loud and crude. And we're supposed to be rooting for these guys!
Not all is entirely lost in the final 75 or so minutes. There are a few more plot twists that are genuinely surprising and while the action scenes aren't spectacular or even all that thrilling, the graphic violence is pretty amusing. The open question to whether or not this entire adventure is just Quaid's dream adds an extra dimension to the film, even if it ultimately never makes much of a difference. Still, when all is said and done, Total Recall isn't all it could and should have been. Director Paul Verhoeven's over-the-top style doesn't quite fit this intriguing premise and a lot of those subplots should have been excised or rewritten. The end result is simply a middling endeavor.