8 Movies That Don't Deserve The Hate

5. Total Recall (2012)

Now before you start screaming all types of obscenities about how much of a travesty this was in comparison to the 1990 original staring Arnold Schwarzenegger and how I wouldn't know a good movie from a hole in the ground, let me just ask you one thing before we continue. Close your eyes, collect your thoughts, take a deep breath, pretend you are actually at "Rekall" and try to erase all memory of the seminal sci fi classic for a few minutes. I know it's hard, personally I can barely go a day without saying 2 WEEKS or SEE YOU AT THE PARTY RICHTER but for the purposes of this article I ask you to just relax and let me explain something that everyone seemingly forgot when this film came out.

Although it does have references thrown in for the fans, this is NOT a remake of that particular film. In fact it is an adaptation of a story by Phillip K Dick entitled "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." Which does NOT include Arnie's immortal quote, "consider it a divorce" or many other delightful colloquialism and scenes made famous by the musclebound Austrian. In fact it was in development hell for many years and the original plans were nothing like what eventually came out. The script had been through forty-two drafts and didn't even have a 3rd act before the Governator and director Paul Verhoeven finshed it off. I have known this for quite some time (was an avid collector of "Movie" magazine back in the day) and when the remake was announced I personally decided to view the film and judge it on its own merits as if the 1990 version never existed.

And with that I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this movie. Apart from the actual technological impossibility of "the fall" (which I will admit is a bit jarring but no different than the Marvel Cinematic Universe) there is nothing wrong with this film as a stand alone action popcorn feature.It is far superior than a lot of other garbage that come out last year. I will choose this over any of those crappy "Fast" films any day. Not to mention the aforementioned "Battleship" or "The Amazing Spider-Man." I've read the actual Phil Dick story (sorry, couldn't resist, ha) and although it doesn't use Mars as it's setting (after all of those Mars movie failures, who could really blame em), this film achieves in matching the tone the short story sets far more than it's predecessor. Plus it also holds a special place in my heart as "the Colony" is found in a far off land that is known as "Down Under."

I truly believe that this movie simply suffered from being compared to the original and if that one never existed, the reaction to this film would be considerably different to what it received. The saddest thing is if this was a certified hit, Len Wiseman was planning a follow-up that would have involved Colin Farrell heading to Mars. Now that had all types of awesome possibilities. And personally, I think Colin Farrell gets too much slack as he is in fact a really good actor whom although may have had his fair share of dodgy role choices, is much better than a lot out there today (Vin Diesel). And let's face it, when it comes to bad role decisions, EVERYONE is culpable. Even Marlon Brando made the "Island of Dr Moreau."