The only thing worse than a bad Philip K. Dick adaptation is a bad remake of a great one, and that’s exactly what 2012’s misbegotten "Total Recall" remake is. Very little from the original story ("We Can Remember It for You Wholesale") remains in this loose and totally pointless affair, which is set entirely on Earth (groan) and replaces wily mutants with slick, expressionless robots (nope).
Instead of Martian intrigue, too, the story centers around totally banal political squabbles, attempting some "gee-whiz" moments of wonder out of a dumb transportation device that goes through the Earth’s core. (Just typing that was painful.) And the one nifty new idea the producers concocted — that two actors, Colin Farrell and Ethan Hawke, would play the same character (so that the evil corporation didn’t just monkey with his mind, but changed his physically appearance, too) was ultimately left out of the theatrical cut of the film. Boo!
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