I have an affinity for alien movies so that means that I have seen a lot of movies in which the human beings encounter extraterrestrials while vacationing in the woods. Many of them are bad, but because I grade on a curve, some are less bad than others for a variety of reasons. The Recall is better than Extraterrestrial and a mash up of Extraterrestrial and Apollo 18. I was actually surprised because when a DVD does not have closed captioning, it is usually a bad sign. The Recall and Extraterrestrial involve young adults going to a cabin in the woods, think the threat will be a weird neighbor, but the threat is aliens, and everyone is trying to survive the encounter, and the government is forebodingly sinister.
The Recall has a better story, and most of the characters are less annoying than Extraterrestrial. The movie borrows from other alien encounter movies by making the consequences more interesting. The denouement actually made The Recall seem like the perfect pilot for a tv series. If the movie has a fatal flaw, it is not making the most interesting person the star of the film.
Why is Wesley Snipes a supporting character? I will never understand why movies put the most interesting and experienced actor in the background. I get that sometimes a movie can only afford to have a headliner for so long or clashing schedules, but any other reason is insane. The main character has to hold your attention for the entire movie so either you hire less interesting supporting actors or better unknowns to play main characters. No offense to the other actors, but were you Blade? Maybe I’m old, but does a bustling market exist for the other actors that I am unaware of? Sometimes a movie will have an unknown actor who surpasses expectations and outshines the headliner in terms of charisma, presence or acting ability, but The Recall is not that movie. Snipes chews up the scenery in the most delightful way and makes everyone else seem flat in comparison.
The Recall is far from a perfect movie. As a chick, I’m baffled when women characters wear flimsy sundresses to the woods without at least a cardigan in sight, but the guys are in layers. A character loses his crap so suddenly and epically that it seemed like bad writing more than bad acting. In what universe would you call Snipes character a hillbilly? A segment in the special features on the DVD touts the use of shooting the footage in special virtual reality widescreen format, but while I was watching the movie at home, it did not seem visually distinct. Maybe you can tell in the theater, but I would be shocked if it didn’t go straight to home viewing so that is kind of sad.
I actually liked The Recall more than other alien movies, but it is largely uneven, and when it finally gets interesting, it is over. If you love alien movies, it still isn’t a must see, but it is a mildly entertaining diversion with an old school action movie flavor in the vibe of Predator (I’m being generous).