I favor the Total Recall remake. Why? Because I thought the original was fatally flawed. I think the screenplay was amazing but the execution had a couple problems. The biggest problem was putting Arnold in the role of the protagonist. Mr. Schwarzenegger makes a terrible good guy because just look at him. He's Mr. Universe. He could beat up all of those other guys easy. That substantially reduces the dramatic tension.
Arnold as the Terminator is perfect. Because he's definitely a formidable opponent. Sarah Connors versus that big buff dude totally works. And the sequel works too because they actually make a Terminator who's tougher than the Arnold.
That's why I want to see a Total Recall without him in the lead.
My only question is: do they not end up going to Mars?
4 comments:
Your premise that the original is fatally flawed is fatally flawed, making everything else you said irrelevant. Your youth is showing. (and not in a good way)
:)
The last time I was caught with my youth showing I had to do 350 hours of community service...
You are mostly wrong, Bellware. Arnie's size and strength played against his casting as a protagonist when The Upside Down World of Part Two was one driven by brute force; yeah, if he can ass-kick his way to Act Three, who cares? But what made Arnie great in Total Recall -- as well as Predator, Kindergarden Cop, True Lies -- is that it doesn't matter how big and tough and buff he is, because the challenges he faces are not the kind you can solve with muscles. Arnie must use his mind and his ingenuity to solve the problems of Totall Recall. In fact, when you first see him crackin' asphalt as a blue collar brick layer and later doin' some sweet skull smashin' in a back alley, you assume that he's just a big dullard incapable of an atmosphic conversion on Mars, because...well, he's Arnie. Recall was the shizzit.
My take is that he looks like the dude in command, the take-charge guy. He looks like he could make mincemeat out of all the dudes who come after him.
Predator worked for me because he's fighting something even bigger and huger than him.
But Arnold in Total Recall has always bugged me.
I always thought he was really smart to take the Terminator role rather than the hero role. Although that would have given us Bishop as the Terminator...
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