Sony Pictures brought sci-fi hysteria to the gigantic, 6,500 seat Hall H at Comic-Con Friday afternoon with three of their highly anticipated, science fiction action flicks, and they started off with their upcoming summer blockbuster Total Recall. Participating in the panel were director Len Wiseman and actors Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and Bryan Cranston.Farrell was charming as ever with his lovable Dublin accent and cheeky sense of humor, although Cranston was surprisingly funny as well. One of the first things he said was, “Cohaagen (his character) has been referred to as a douchebag,” just to see how the hearing-impaired person would sign it.Ever since the first trailer debuted, what I’ve noticed about this remake of Total Recall that really sets it apart from the original is the tone. Sure, it’s no longer set on Mars, but more importantly, Wiseman’s version of this story takes a more serious and action-packed approach. More like Minority Report than the tongue-in-cheek, wildly violent silliness of Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall.This was readily apparent in the six minute preview that was shown, which was essentially the latest trailer, but extended primarily with more clips of kinetic shootouts, hand-to-hand fighting and both on-foot and hover car-based chases. I was pretty excited for the movie before the preview. Now I’m really excited.
When asked about how he decided to take on this project after sticking to smaller indies recently, Farrell responded that he lamented the fact this was his second remake in six years, but it was the astounding visual realization of this sci-fi world that reeled him in. And of course that this was more a retelling than an average remake.
For the full panel, listen here.
