Total Recall (2012)
Total Recall (2012) plot
The following content describes the plot for the movie.
In the year 2084, chemical warfare devastates the Earth. There is little habitable land remaining and it is divided into two territories — the United Federation of Britain (UFB) and the Colony (Australia). Many residents of the Colony travel to the UFB to work in their factories via “the Fall”, a gravity elevator, which travels through the Earth. A Resistance operating in the UFB seeks to improve life in the Colony.
The story centres around a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), who, tired with his dead-end job and mediocre existence, decides to visit Rekall, a virtual entertainment company that implants artificial memories. Bob McClane (John Cho), a Rekall salesman, convinces Quaid to be implanted with the memories of a secret agent. Just as Quaid is starting to be implanted, McClane discovers that he already has real memories of being a covert operative, when McClane and his co-workers are suddenly gunned down by a SWAT team. Quaid instinctively reacts and kills the officers before escaping. He returns home to his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale), who attempts to kill him, revealing that she is an undercover UFB agent who has been monitoring him for the past six weeks. Quaid manages to escape, and Charles Hammond (Dylan Scott Smith), a man claiming to be a friend, contacts Quaid and directs him to a safe-deposit box. In the safe-deposit box, Quaid discovers a recorded message from his former self, leading him to an apartment in UFB.
While being pursued, Quaid meets Melina (Jessica Biel), the woman from his dreams. She helps him reach the apartment. Once there, Quaid triggers a second recording, revealing that his name is actually Carl Hauser, an agent working for UFB Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). After defecting to the Resistance, Hauser was captured and implanted with false memories. The recording reveals that Cohaagen will use robotic police to invade the Colony so the UFB will have more living space. Hauser, however, has seen a “kill code” that would stop the robotic forces. The code can be recovered from his memory by Resistance leader Matthias (Bill Nighy). Melina reveals that she was Hauser’s lover, but the two were separated when Hauser was captured. The police surround the apartment building, trapping Quaid and Melina. Quaid’s friend from the Colony, Harry (Bokeem Woodbine), tries to convince Quaid that he is still in a Rekall-induced dream and that killing Melina is the only way out. Quaid is conflicted, but decides to shoot Harry instead after Quaid notices a tear on Melina’s cheek. Lori and some drones then pursue the pair inside the building’s lifts, but fail to capture them.
Quaid and Melina meet with Matthias. While Matthias searches Quaid’s memories, a SWAT team, led by Lori and Cohaagen, burst in. Cohaagen informs Matthias that Quaid/Hauser was secretly working for him without even knowing it, since his memories were altered, and that the kill code was a trap. Cohaagen kills Matthias and orders Hauser’s mind restored. Quaid pleads with Cohaagen to spare Melina but he disregards this as Cohaagen and Lori take Melina away. Before Quaid’s mind is altered, Hammond helps Quaid escape but is killed in the process.
Cohaagen then launches his invasion at the Fall terminal. Quaid arrives and manages to sneak on board, setting timed explosives throughout the ship while searching for Melina. After freeing her, they climb atop the Fall as it arrives at the Colony. There they fight the soldiers and Cohaagen, then Quaid’s explosives detonate. Quaid and Melina jump off before the ship plummets back into the tunnel and explodes underground, killing Cohaagen and his army.
Waking up in an ambulance, Quaid is greeted by Melina. When he notices that she is missing a scar on her left hand, he realizes that she is in fact Lori in disguise; the pair fight and Lori is killed. Quaid finds the real Melina outside the ambulance and they embrace.
(In the extended director’s cut, Quaid finds a bandage on the inside of his elbow, but there is no wound. He then remembers that a peace sign tattoo had been placed there while he was at Rekall. This hints that everything was an implanted Rekall memory that Quaid has been experiencing since sitting in the chair at Rekall. This ending is briefly suggested in the regular cut because at the end, Quaid stares a Rekall sign in the distance and momentarily wonders about his recent experiences.)
Source: Wikipedia
Our verdict: Not as entertaining as the original. But with a more gritty feel and look about it, the 2012 version provides an interesting alternative.
Related items: – Total Recall (2012 version) on DVD and Blu-ray available to order/pre-order from AMAZON.