No More Bad Remakes!

It's official the 'Total Recall' remake has officially flopped. The film cost $125 million to make and only took in $26 million in it's opening weekend. As you know, it only goes down hill from there. Before you know it 'Total Recall' will be coming to a $1.50 theater near you.
I typically don't care how much movies make, but it gives me some satisfaction when a bad remake fails. Most (not all) remakes are not about reinventing or perfecting the film. Most remakes are about making money--at the expense of the art form. Thus, I believe the more remakes that go down in flames, the better off the audience will be.

The same 'thing' happened last year with the remake of John Carpenter's 'The Thing.' Like 'Total Recall,' 'The Thing' remake was badly written, poorly done, added nothing to the franchise, and was an overall 'hot mess.' Mind you Carpenter's 'The Thing' was itself a remake based on 1951's 'The Thing From Another World.' But 2011's 'The Thing' was so bad I wanted to wash my eyes out. 'Total Recall' comes close. Were it not for Kate Beckinsale, this film would have been unwatchable.

Despite the casting of the lovely Kate Beckinsale, the 'Total Recall' remake was off to a shaky start. The writers took out Mars, they took out Kuato, and they cast remake king, icky Colin Farrell. I wrote earlier this year that removing mars from 'Total Recall' was a mistake. I guess I was right. Does Total Recall's failure really surprise anyone? 

Save yourself the trouble and watch the original. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have personal issues, but he was a lot of fun to watch in the original film. Colin IS NOT.