“Total Recall” is a classic mixing of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the unstoppable action giant, and Paul Verhoeven, the outlandish director of satirical over-the-top grisly violent films.
Schwarzenegger plays Douglas Quaid, a construction worker who knows he’s meant for something “special,” more so than being married to Sharon Stone. (Only in movies.) A subway car ad promises Quaid an “ego trip” to Mars courtesy of the company Recall. See, the trip is all in your head. Don’t leave home without it. Quaid jumps at the chance, but (!!) wakes up mid-session realizing his cover as a secret superspy from Mars has been blown and everyone is out to kill him. “Get down!”
Nearly 20 years on, “Recall” kicks ass, especially that pounding music score and those bulging eyes. It has more brain than 10 Michael Bay films, satirizing grisly gun porn flicks even as it plays out as one, and giving a kick to unchecked American and British colonialism. It’s also a great comedy: Watch how minor characters repeatedly stop the action to tell Doug (and us) what exactly will happen next, and it all comes true.
Bonus points: The whole production could be a trippy trick. Is all the action inside Doug’s head, as Recall promised? I absolutely think so. My wife disagrees. Giddy nasty debatable fun. A
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