MOVIE PREVIEW
Topping off a summer of reboots, remakes, and reunions is Total Recall, a reimagining of the 1990 sci-fi thriller—itself loosely based on a short story by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick. The earlier film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid, an unsatisfied, late 21st-century construction worker in search of adventure. He gets a memory implant of a vacation to Mars—only to accidentally uncover his true past as a rebel-hunter on the Red Planet. The powers that be, whom he double-crossed, pursue him throughout this fast-moving, casually violent film (punctuated by Ahnold’s trademark Austrian-accented one-liners). In the new film, Quaid (played by Colin Farrell) goes into the memory clinic for a dose of excitement and comes out realizing he’s really a superspy. This time, Quaid is caught not between two planets but between Earth’s future superpowers, Euromerica and New Shanghai, and their agents: his once-devoted wife (Kate Beckinsale) and a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel). Rather than emulate the original’s campy tone, Total Recall redux aims for sleek action sequences and stunning dystopian scenery. In theaters August 3.—Valerie Ross
