As I watched this remake in 2012 starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bill Nighy, snippets of the original movie, such as the fat lady removing her face mask and the receptionist who changed her nail colour with the tap of a pointer, came flooding back. It is understandable that critics will compare the original and remakes to provide their reviews. Whilst the original movie scored for its originality, this latter movie did not seem to receive accolades of the same nature and fared poorly at the box office ratings.
I personally was quite pleased with this newer version. Frankly, Arnold's acting was terrible and exaggerated and it was then that I first noticed the mega-bitch Sharon Stone before she catapulted to fame with her leading role in "Basic Instinct". Don't get me wrong, Sharon was bad in a good way. Her portrayal of the Arnold's fake wife was excellent although she was killed off fairly early.
I am starting to like the bad boy Colin Farrell since last year's "Fright Night". His personal story is somewhat similar yet dissimilar to Brad Pitt in that they both good looking actors acted in a minor role in some blockbuster movies e.g. Minority Report, before they were discovered by movie agents to take on bigger and juicier roles. However, fame eluded Colin even as he acted as the "Alexander the Great" which could either potentially propel him further in showbiz or make him fade into further oblivion. Sadly, he still didn't quite make it to the Grade A leading man status with the recent movies. For me, I enjoyed his acting in recent movies and I think it is high time Hollywood give him a superhero character to play.
Then again, I absolutely adore Kate Beckinsale. I have been her fan for the longest time since her "Underworld" days. She looked so beautiful even as a villain and she was to "Total Recall 2012" what Sharon Stone was to the original movie. Starring next to her, Jessica Biel never got a chance to shine.
I also realized that there were some links between the key characters. 3 of them Colin, Kate and Bill were vampires respectively in "Fright Night" and the latter 2 as vampires in the "Underworld" series. Even Jessica played the role of a vampire hunter in "Blade: Trinity". Did someone got them together deliberately for this movie or was this just pure coincidence?
Whatever the case, I enjoyed this movie thoroughly.
