7. Verhoeven's Violence
One of the prime tenets of Paul Verhoeven's filmography is his unique use of graphic violence; take his previous film
Robocop, a gory action film that uses its violence to satirical ends, and in his own Total Recall, it helps to keep the tone gleefully off-kilter, and ensures that things never become too serious. Never do we feel that his gore, wild and cartoonish, is exploitative or legitimately gross - as compared to, say, a slasher film - because it makes us laugh; it has an amusingly morbid sense of humour, such as the notable scene when Quaid throws Richter's severed limbs from the elevator, while shouting "See you at the party, Richter!". One need only observe the BBFC's assessment of the new Recall's violence to see how toned down it is. According to them, and as is evident in watching the film, there is "little sight of blood or injury detail", and though one doesn't need blood to make a great film, the excessive gore and violence was so integral to the original film, generating several of its most original moments - after all, who can forget that human bullet shield on the escalator, the countless headshots, and yes, Richter's severed limbs? In the remake, violence is impactful, and fast-paced, but simply not memorable or entertaining; it is too serious and focused on slickness, when it should be more interested in staying true to the original film's vision of campy, over-the-top violence that made it such a success. The American PG-13 rating, of course, is to blame for this, and quite ironic it is that in attempting to recoup more box office receipts, they have damned themselves to a return best described as a flop.