Back Seat Producers

In the late 21st century, much of the planet has become uninhabitable due to global conflicts. Two main land masses remain that can support a population; the United Federation of Britain, and the land previously known as Australia, but now known as The Colony. Both land masses are connected by a mode of transportation that passes through the planet called The Fall, and as one would expect, due to the population, habitable land is at a premium.

Doug Quaid is a man who lives in The Colony but commutes daily to the UFB for his job, which is the manufacturing of a mechanized peacekeeping force. Doug is married, but lately he’s been having some troubling dreams which indicate a life different from the one he knows, a life that was filled with some harrowing adventure and intrigue and with a woman different from his wife. Doug’s a little frustrated and wants a little more than what he’s getting now and so he makes the attempt to go to a company called Rekall, that specializes in creating new virtual memories for people. Doug chooses the life of a secret agent, but thanks to a wrinkle in the way Rekall works, this backfires because in actually Doug was a secret agent in his life, even though he doesn’t still know the full details.

When this is awakened in Doug, it puts him in jeopardy and now Doug is on the run to find out the real truth, while in the background, conflict looms between the UFB and The Colony.

That’s the basic premise to Total Recall the latest film from the director of the first two Underworld movies, Len Wiseman. It’s also a re-make of a movie of the same name from director Paul Verhoeven starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and both are adaptations of the Philip K. Dick short story, “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale.” Now I really enjoyed the original film (even though it has it’s problems) and I’ve not really been a fan of Wiseman’s Underworld movies, so while I thought the trailer looked decent, I was keeping my expectations for this on the low side. For myself, I was pleasantly surprised and actually prefer the remake over the original, though don’t get me wrong, the original is still a fun movie.

Wiseman’s version looks fantastic and is obviously paying big homage to another film adaptation of the work of Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner. I know in the party of people that I saw this with, a few were a little disappointed about this aspect of the film’s look, but honestly, it just didn’t bother me in the slightest and more I thought it made total sense with the revised premise to the film. The film’s action sequences are quite well done, with some particular standouts being Quaid’s battles with his “wife” and a pretty thrilling chase sequence involving your literal flying cars. Wiseman keeps the whole thing moving at a fast clip, and while there are a few holes here and there, and a few stretches of credibility (the most glaring being a fight at the end between Cohaagen, the leader of the UFB, and Quaid), I still had a great time with this.

What really stood out to me though was Colin Farrell who plays the part of Doug Quaid, taking over the part originally performed by Schwarzenegger. Farrell brings an extremely solid likability to the character right from the start, and has much more of an everyman quality to him than Schwarzenegger does. It’s not a knock against Schwarzenegger’s performance in the original, that was all well and good for it’s time and fitted Schwarzenegger screen personality. When Quaid’s past is discovered at Rekall and he’s put in jeopardy, he reacts accordingly (in a really nice little action set piece) but at the end he displays that slight little bit of nuance at being shocked at what he just did and how he’s picking up all of this naturally. Further in the film, Quaid has a conversation with himself (from an interactive recording) that just takes things a step further and really allows you to see the differences that he’s put into both characters. It’s been awhile since Colin Farrell has headed up a film like this and it’s just really nice to see him back and doing some pretty darn good work.

Farrell’s backed up with an impressive group of support. Jessica Biel plays Melina, the girl who’s from Quaid’s dreams, but who in actuality is the lieutenant to Mathias (Bill Nighy) the leader of the resistance against Cohagen and the UFB. I’ve not been much of a fan of Biel’s work in the past, but here, I think she and Farrell have some pretty nice chemistry that has it’s own subtleties to it in the midst of all of the big action. The great Bryan Cranston (of Breaking Bad fame) plays the part of Cohaagen, and Cranston is obviously having a good time playing this villainous part, even getting to get his hands dirty in his own physical fight with Quaid near the film’s end (though as mentioned above, I think this fight does stretch things a little bit).

Really standing out for me in the support area though are Kate Beckinsale as Lori, Quaid’s “wife” who’s been tasked by Cohaagen to keep watch over Quaid, and Bokeem Woodbine as Harry, Quaid’s best friend on his job in his new manufactured life. Beckinsale is certainly no stranger to this type of action having played in the Underworld films (Len Wiseman is her husband). I’m not really a fan of those movies, so I wasn’t necessarily expecting much of her here, but I was quite surprised, she’s got a real venality that shows through and it certainly makes the fight sequences pretty convincing. Bokeem Woodbine really stands out in a sequence where Quaid is trying to be convinced that he’s not really out in the midst of all of this action, but still in the confines of Rekall. This was something that was done in the original film as well, but the way that Woodbine plays it, it has a lot more gravity here and it’s, at least for me, quite a tense bit of business.

Some will probably be dismayed by the fact that this version is rated PG-13 over the original’s R rating, lacking the original’s more bloody violence. Some might also be disappointed with the change in plot that takes out the whole aspect of going to Mars with Mars and it’s mutated society being the object of Cohaagen’s plans. But honestly, I thought that the changes that Len Wiseman and screenplay writers Kurt Wimmer (hopefully some will remember Wimmer’s terrific film Equilibrium) and Mark Bomback made sense and worked well carrying a lot of little “nods” to the original peppered throughout the film. While my expectations were low at the start, I was still expecting to have a pretty good time with this. Total Recall, though exceeded those expectations and I ended up having a great time instead and certainly look forward to seeing this again down the road. For me, this surpassed the original, but it doesn’t replace it by any means, I think there’s room enough for both versions to be out there.

Sean and Eddy are best friends who have formed a flash mob dance crew called The Mob. They live and work in Miami for a large hotel, but their main passion is their art. Their talented crew are trying to get themselves noticed and they do so with impressive effects. They’re trying to win a $100,000 prize through YouTube by getting over 10 million hits on their channel.

Emily Anderson is a talented young dancer who’s trying to go professional against her father’s wishes. Her father just happens to be the developer of the hotel that Sean and Eddy work for. One day, Sean and Emily cross paths and of course, they;re immediately attracted to each other. Sean invites Emily into his world which is a low rent area of Miami, but once she’s there, Emily sees the magic of the area that Sean’s been living in. Emily’s trying to be accepted into a prestigious dance academy and while she’s told she’s technically proficient, she’s also told that she needs something a little more. Sean invites Emily to see The Mob in action and once she does, she wants to join.

Then bad news hits; Emily’s father is making a bid to take over the are where Sean and his friends live and literally wipe it out for further development. Now, Emily wants to help Sean and The Mob save their homes by taking their art from purely exhibition to protest art.

That’s the premise to Step Up Revolution the latest film in the popular Step Up series. As I said back in my review for Step Up 3D, I used to make fun of these movies, but have since learned way better thanks to TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew. Step Up 3D was the first of these films that I saw in theatres and I just thought it was as fun as could be. Sure, you’re not exactly going to see the most engrossing stories here and you’re not exactly going to see Oscar calibre performances. I think if you got either of those, it would be pure gravy. What you go to these movies for are to see some very impressive dance performances and hear the hard-driving music. And now since these movies have made the move to 3D, you’re also seeing some of the very best 3D that’s out there to see. This was definitely the case with Step Up 3D and for the most part, it’s the same with Step Up Revolution.

One of the things that I most enjoyed about Step Up 3D was it’s atmosphere- it sought to take it’s contemporary dance style and mix it with the atmosphere of old Technicolor musicals. It didn’t take itself too seriously and just had an overwhelming joy about it celebrating it’s artform. Now don’t get me wrong, that same joy is in Step Up Revolution, but there is a little bit of a darker tone to the film and it’s paced just a little slower. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, it’s still quite entertaining, just not to the same ways that I thought Step Up 3D was.

Where Step Up Revolution really excels is in it’s extremely high-charged and downright thrilling dance numbers- right from the opening, you’re going to see some pretty amazing stuff. The Step Up producers are thoroughly embracing 3D and it absolutely shows. Yeah, I expect these would look just fine in 2D, but here’s an example where 3D really does enhance what you’re seeing on-screen, making each number even more thrilling.

Ryan Guzman plays Sean and Kathryn McCormick plays Emily. If you watch So You Think You Can Dance you should recognize McCormick as one of the past contestants and as one of their All-Stars as well. Guzman is, for this type of movie, quite impressive and certainly has a high likability factor. McCormick lacks a little in line delivery and emotion, but more than makes up for it in sheer physical presence and her skill. When she’s in a scene, you’re just drawn to her, even when she’s not dancing. One can certainly hope that she’ll further develop her acting chops, because if she can, she could go quite far. Misha Gabriel plays Eddy, and he brings a little bit of a darker side to the film, though he and Guzman do have an obvious chemistry together.

If you’re a regular watcher of So You Think You Can Dance then you’re bound to recognize some of the other players out there as well, and that’s always a treat. Stephen “tWitch” Boss returns from Step Up 3D playing the same character, but now transplanted to Miami and firmly part of The Mob. Philip Chbeeb has been seen in SYTYCD as well as in America’s Best Dance Crew as part of the winning crew of the sixth season of that show, and he’s just as much fun to watch here. Even choreographer and SYTYCD judge Mia Michaels is here, playing the head of the academy that Emily is trying to get into. Rounding the cast out, you’ve also got Adam Sevani returning as Moose, near the end of the film for a very impressive number, and veteran actor Peter Gallagher playing Emily’s father. Oh sure, you’ve certainly seen Gallagher do better work elsewhere, but his presence certainly does add a little gravity to the cast.

Step Up Revolution really is a lot of fun, and just goes right into overdrive whenever it shifts into any of it’s impressive dance numbers. It’s story and characters are formulaic, but for this sort of film, I just don’t think it’s a bad thing at all; it makes it feel comfortable and just let’s you really bask in the film’s set pieces. If you do choose to see this, and of course I am recommending it, then I’d certainly hope you will go see it in 3D. The 3D here is absolutely amazing and I’ll even go so far as to say it’s probably the best 3D I’ll see in a movie all year. I’m sure it’s just fine in 2D, but in 3D, it’s just thrilling and compelling. Can’t wait to see what they’ll do for the fifth film now…