Total Recall 2012

By the end of the 21^st century, the use of global chemical warfare has left most of planet Earth’s vast land masses uninhabitable. Mankind has been reduced to only two territories, the first of which is now called The United Federation of Britain (UFB) and it predominately consists of the United Kingdom, Ireland and the northern coastal regions of France. The second of which is now called The Colony, otherwise known as Australia. Workers from The Colony travel through the planet each day on the only transport possible, an underground shuttle known as “The Fall”.

Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) presides over both territories along with his military police force and enormous brigade of robot sentinels. Cohaagen is in a continuous battle against Matthias (Billy Nighy), terrorist leader of the resistance movement that is fighting for equality of The Colony. Douglas Quaid (Colin Ferrell) and his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) live in The Colony and both commute to the UFB where Lori is an emergency medical technician and Douglas works in a factory with his close friend Harry (Bokeem Woodbine); they build the defense robots for the UFB’s synthetic police force.

Recently, Douglas has been plagued by reoccurring nightmares of being chased by UFB sentries while attempting to escape from some strange building with a mysterious woman. Although Lori knows about these dreams, he doesn’t seem to feel completely comfortable discussing details with her, or anyone else, for that matter. Unable to shake the dreams, he’s decided to pay a visit to Rekall to explore the options of creating a new memory, and his fantasy: well of course, is to be a secret agent. Ahhhh, but something went wrong during the implant process and what started off as a friendly sales pitch has now ended in a confused confrontation with a gun pointed in his face followed by Federal Police bursting into the Rekall parlor and killing everyone except Quaid. But the confusion doesn’t stop there. See, the police intended to apprehend him before he could become implanted and although it seems they may have been at least partially successful, something inside him has been triggered. And while they attempted to take him into custody, he snapped and turned tails on them by grabbing a gun and shooting every officer in sight (the room was full). He managed to escape the parlor and return home where Lori was inside watching the news on TV while waiting for him. In a panic, he began to explain his version of what just happened; she quickly calmed him down and claimed that Rekall had screwed up his mind by giving him some kind of paranoid delusion. Suddenly her warm and gentle embrace becomes a crushing death grip around his neck, OMG she’s trying to kill him too! He escapes her grip and during their struggle she’s explained that she’s actually UFB Intel, and that everything he’s experienced over the past 6 weeks has been the product of a memory replacement, “What can I say, I give good wife…”

Lori’s explanation has only created more questions and without killing her, he’s escaped once again; now he’s on a mission to find out who he really is. Turns out, the girl from his nightmare, Melina (Jessica Biel) is far more than just a mysterious woman. And in the end, he’ll have to decide whether to return to the boring life of a law abiding, happily married factory worker: Douglas Quaid, or remain as Hauser and continue the fight with Melina to free The Colony from Cohaagen’s corruptive evil plans to use his synthetic army to completely enslave all the people of both territories.

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Mankind has finally discovered that they have been sharing this world and coexisting beside two separate non-human species, Vampires and Lycans. This revelation comes in the wake of a new virus that ravages the human genetic code; it gives the infected immortality and causes them to morph into monstrous creatures incapable of controlling their own actions. Although governmental studies have yet to yield a cure they have at least confirmed a fatal sensitivity to ultra-violet light and silver. And so, with the development of new methods and weapons they have deployed a mass cleansing of society to identify and exterminate the non-humans.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a notorious vampire who for many centuries had emerged victoriously from battles against the Lycan clan, she had been forever revered until she met and fell in love with a hybrid named Michael. Their union enraged her elders and she was condemned by her clan when she refused to kill him. Together the two have fought to protect each other from all species ever since, and now with this new purging they have decided to seek safety somewhere faraway from humans and their own kind. However the humans have sabotaged their escape and surrendered their remains as the governmental property of Antigen Laboratory so Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea) can continue his research in trying to develop an antidote for the disease that still threatens the human race.

Twelve years later Selene suddenly awakens from a suspended cryogenic sleep, she escapes the laboratory and is chasing the visions she believes are coming from Michael. These visions lead her into tunnels underground where the Lycans have been hiding, and then she meets David (Theo James) he’s another vampire who helps her to rescue a young girl Eve (India Eisley); Eve calls herself “subject #2” and tells Selene that she is “subject #1”.

Elsewhere aboveground, Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy) has been investigating a string of strange recent events that have led him to Dr. Lane who denies allegations of a test subject’s escape and has deceivingly assured him that “all is fine and well” at the laboratory. Later, all h3ll brakes out after Selene learns that Eve is actually her and Michael’s daughter; Eve is unaware of her potential powers so Selene must risk everything to protect her. The humans and vampires both want Eve dead while the Lycans want to use her body to protect them against silver.  

Contraband (2012)

A life of crime can be like a never ending high stakes card game with many ways to play and many ways to pay; but once started very few are ever able to cash out or fold and just walk away.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) played the game and became a successful smuggler who not only cashed out but was also able to walk away as a legend and vowed to never return.  But he is forced to break his vow when his ‘not so successful’ young broth-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) gets caught up in a bad drug run. Andy’s boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi) expects full compensation and he doesn’t care who foots the bill. Briggs makes that clear to Chris when he explained that “family inherits the debt” and he aims to collect even if he has to seek it all the way down line to Chris’s lovely wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale).  Now Chris has just two weeks to pay Andy’s debt and save his wife and kids, but that kind of money doesn’t come easy, and he’s against the risks of playing with drugs. So he hooks up with some of his old team mates and plans a run out of Panama for counterfeit money.

Unbeknownst to Chris, Andy’s real boss is being pressured for debts of his own and decides to turn up the heat by ordering a threatening house-call for Chris’s family. But Chris is stuck on a Cargo ship at sea with Andy, so he sends Kate into the lion’s den when he tells her to call his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), who arrives like a knight in shining armor to protect her and the boys. Now Chris can concentrate on the job at hand, and it’s a good thing too because Chris knows his shyt, and with a clear mind he realizes that his ordered load of ‘Funny Money’ is just a little too funny. Tough luck, and the clock is ticking but now the plans have changed and he has to go to the Top Dog to get the good stuff before his ship leaves port. Wouldn’t ya know it, Andy runs off with the buy money and leaves Chris hanging for a compromise, yup, Chris can have the funny money for free, but he has to help the Top Dog with a dangerous side-job first!

Well, no problem; I mean after all Chris is considered a legend. Right? So, with cars flipping and bullets flying, he gets back to the ship just in time, and even manages to make it all look as smooth as belting butter. But while back on board, there seems to be major kinks in his finish. Andy made it back too, but he has a forbidden stash of drugs. Captain Camp (J.K. Simmons) has been brought into the game and he knows Chris is making a run on his ship; he threatens to turn Chris over to C.B.P (customs) if he doesn’t surrender the goods. Meanwhile back at home, Kate is in shambles battling Sebastian’s drunken advances.

I must admit, I do enjoy seeing Giovanni Ribisi. But for me, it was just too funny watching him as a Kingpin bully thug.

And although I did really like the way Chris gets back at Captain Camp, I was still in tears over Kate being rolled in that plastic tarp, and then overwhelmed with anger as they began to pour the concrete. All I can say is, God bless cell phones! Ha!!