Review – Total Recall (2012)

Here’s proof of a pair of unlikely propositions: sometimes the addition of Syd-Mead-esque art direction actually isn’t an improvement, nor is the absence of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who would have guessed? This movie starts stinking right with the set-up: the Earth’s surface has been rendered uninhabitable except for England and Australia, which are now connected by a giant elevator that runs through the center of the planet. And downhill it goes from there. Some of the references to the original are grin-worthy, and Kate Beckinsale does a good job as one of the villains. But none of the small touches justify the big, dumb mess of a plot. See if desperate