Totally worth recalling

So I posed a question to my friends the other night:


"When is it a good time to watch Total Recall?" 


The answer is, of course, "always"; which is why I was somewhat worried to hear of the impending remake with Colin Farrell. 


Let me start with saying that I like Colin Farrell, he was far and away the best thing about Daredevil (although let's face it, the bar was pretty low), and he has the ability to convince in both serious and comedic roles. However, whether he's ready to step into the iconic shoes (from here they appear to be tied but I will go in for a closer look) of Arnold Schwarzenegger is another matter entirely.


As with a lot of the reboots of older films, they are promising a more "serious" film, without the Arnie one-liners. Now, admittedly, I'm a fan of silly actioners chock-full of one-liners, as my whole-hearted defence of "Welcome to the Jungle" will attest to, but I worry that by losing the comedy, you lose what made the film such a cult favourite in the first place (although it might have been the chick with three boobs). And whilst Colin Farrell probably won't need to rely on the one liners in the same way that Arnie did to cover patchy acting, I still think that those kind of 80s/90s "fun" action films are something we're severely missing in today's cinematic landscape.


Of course, I'm open to giving it a chance and am happy to be proved wrong. I just think it's a real shame that an entire generation will grow up on this Total Recall and will miss Arnie shooting Sharon Stone in the head and proclaiming "consider that a divorce". 


Either way, once it's released, you can be sure that it will be time to "get your ass to Mars".  

From Eighties With Love

Last night I watched "From Paris with love", which for my sins I really enjoyed. I think that this was largely due to my fondness for ‘stupid action’ movies, of the ilk that they rarely seem to make any more.

Everybody wants to see the gritty realism of Bourne or Daniel Craig era James Bond, but being a child of the eighties I miss the Arnie/Sly/Bruce school of action. Give me "Tango and Cash" or "Red Heat" any day.

Perhaps this is why I was so vehemently defending "Welcome to the Jungle" at work recently. I’m not saying it’s "Citizen Kane" but I do think it’s one of the best action comedies produced in the last decade. 2010, saw some excellent ones, see: "The A-Team", "The Losers" and "The Expendables", but before that, there was a bit of a dry spell.

"Welcome to the Jungle" (or "The Rundown" in the US), embodies everything I loved about the genre: Self-concerned muscle-bound hero who gradually realises he needs to look out for others, annoying sidekick solely there for comic relief, panto bad guy in the form of the impeccable Christopher Walken and the entertaining sub-plot of The Rock refusing to use guns.. Throw in a female lead that actually has some substance and you’ve got all the ingredients of a film I love. Plus bonus points for this being The Rock’s breakthrough film, including the memorable ‘passing the torch scene’ between him and Arnie.

Like I say, I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for an eighties action comedy fan like me, it does everything right.