Columbia Pictures has released the first full trailer for the remake of Total Recall, directed by Len Wiseman. Replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the sci-fi this time around is Colin Farrell, in what looks to be a CGI-heavy spectacle, evident from the super-stylized action scenes, advanced technology, and gunplay.

As it looks, this version is going to focus more on action and less on the cheesiness of the original (although it’s still early to tell), as well as furnishing a twisted psychological mind trip of its own. With a fast-paced action packed trailer, the new Total Recall looks more than promising…. for now. The film also stars Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, John Cho, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Nighy.

Check it out below:

As the nation states Euromerica and New Shanghai vie for supremacy, a factory worker (Farrell) begins to suspect that he’s a spy, though he is unaware which side of the fight he’s on.

Total Recall hits theatres on August 3, 2012.

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I know, I know – I’m part of the problem by rewarding this “trailer for a trailer” phenomenon with coverage. But this spot announcing the upcoming Total Recall trailer (airing this Sunday) actually shows off some decent footage from the movie and gives us real first look at the way director Len Wiseman is going to translate Philip K. Dick’s story to the big screen. It shares some imagery with the 1990 Schwarzenegger version, to be sure, but surprisingly there are a lot more moments reminiscent of The 5th Element. Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think, and we’ll post the full version when it goes up.

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Take Van Helsing, a Mummy sequel and the attitude of The Crow; lose the campy nature of the first two flicks mentioned, and that’s pretty much what Underworld: Awakening feels like.

Now depending on your thoughts on those flicks this comparison may annoy or entice you to check out the 88 minute fourth installment in the supernatural action franchise.  While part 3 (Rise of the Lycans) went prequel mode, this story is a direct sequel to part 2 (Underworld: Evolution).  Building upon the story of Death Dealer vamp Selene (Kate Beckinsale); the story executed here is more show than tell.  Meaning, the action is taking precedent over the storyline.  And judging from how this ended, this tale is just what it feels like as you watch it…a flashy placeholder.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing.  Seeing, being the keyword here.  The imagery is what wills this to, well in this guy’s case, a decent review.  The way director Måns Mårlind places the actors, all of the CGI (mainly the Lycans), and set pieces in each scene, projects out an intense & serious tone for the audience to take in.  So even with a vague and obvious storyline, the franchise still feels like its progressing in some respects.  Though there was a need for more exposition on key plot points.  Based on what happened at the conclusion of this, the script may have contradicted itself, therefore, lost some continuity.  Or…my brain didn’t catch those details since yours truly had to catch a midnight screening because the studio decided not to screen this one. (At least I’m honest).

What definitely has evolved here are the action choreography and the Selene character. Beckinsale becomes more ruthless and deadly than ever. It didn’t matter if it was Lycans (costumed and/or CGI) or humans, the body count is massive. The blood is flowing and when factoring in the cold callous atmosphere created, this series actually becomes more of a horror flick rather than an action piece like the previous entries were. Granted, the conversations are not all that interesting or revealing this time around. During Beckinsale’s dialogue scenes – which are very empty – she still delivers like a robot, but this time it at least fits with the scenario she finds herself in. Plus her new supporting cast is able to slightly spice up the chatter.

The biggest obstacle this feature has to overcome is whether or not people will buy into the direction of the story.  Again, this brings up continuity with regards to part 1 & 2.  These questions come up in the first act and unless you can buy into what is happening between Lycans, Vampires, and humans, then this could end up being a letdown.  But as stated earlier, the imagery and action could cover-up the storytelling direction.

Overall, Underworld: Awakening can be summed up like this: Fans of the franchise will be content with where the story is heading; casual viewers will not feel like they wasted their money; and chances are, one will not have the urge to watch this again.  For a fourth installment in franchise built around a war between vamps and werewolves during modern times though, what more can you ask for?  Well, besides developing a more engaging storyline that is just as entertaining as the continuous blood bath depicted on screen.

And feel free to skip the IMAX and 3D.  Though a few sequences could benefit with the IMAX scope.

RATING: 3 out of 5

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Contraband is a typical January release. Which is to say, it’s a movie – and that’s about it. It meets all the qualifications necessary to be a movie, and does absolutely nothing interesting along the way.

In fact, the most interesting thing about this movie is who is behind the camera. Baltasar Kormakur was the star of an Icelandic action film called Reykjavik-Rotterdam back in 2008, and now he’s directing Contraband, which is a remake of that film. And…that’s about the extent of anything fascinating you’ll find in this movie. The film itself is a by-the-numbers thriller about a former smuggler (Wahlberg) and his best friend (Foster) who get called back for “one last job” to save Wahlberg’s screw-up brother-in-law from a local drug dealer (Ribisi). Wahlberg’s wife (Kate Beckinsale) is threated for leverage, blah blah blah. You’ve seen this movie before. It’s basically Gone in 60 Seconds without the cars.

Wahlberg hooks up with a team of guys to smuggle millions of dollars in counterfeit money from Panama on a freight ship, and for a while, the movie desperately wants to be like The Italian Job or Ocean’s 11. But the main characters’ situation is so robbed of significance that it fails on every level. We know Wahlberg is going to make it back to protect his threatened wife, so every tumultuous scenario that happens in Panama is mind-numbingly boring because we already know the outcome. And the secondary guys on his team – including Lukas Haas, whose talent is totally wasted here – are given a piss poor introduction (in one of the most mundane montages I’ve seen in a while) and aren’t fleshed out as real characters, so I didn’t care if they lived or died. I barely knew who they were. There’s no emotional connection in this film, and even the stuff with the wife back home feels contrived just so we’ll root for the hero.

The setting was another missed opportunity to do something to make the film stand out. Set in a post-Katrina New Orleans, Kormakur occasionally provides us with a few shots of the city, but never turns it into a character the way, for example, Ben Affleck does with Boston in Gone Baby Gone or The Town. Same thing with Panama when the story eventually gets there: it seems as if the filmmakers are trying to evoke Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (or similar big budget blockbusters) in the way they depict the skyline here – brief helicopter shots that paint the city from the side – but, like the rest of this movie, it’s a half-assed effort that ends up meaning nothing.

There was one point in the film where I thought it had a chance to elevate beyond it’s mediocrity. A main character nearly dies – something that was shocking, ballsy, and an actual twist that I didn’t see coming – but it’s immediately revealed that this character is still alive, deflating all the excitement I felt as the film returned to its boring conclusion. If you watch two or three movies a year, you might think Contraband is good. Otherwise, you’ll see everything coming as it plays out in the most banal way possible.

For those of you who hated the ending to The Town, this is way worse. Contraband apparently can’t be bothered to deal with things like “consequences.” It ends exactly the way you think it will, and doesn’t care to explain how the main characters get around some pretty major problems that would arise if this movie cared about plot holes. (I’m dancing around the ending to avoid spoilers). Put it this way – “Breaking Bad” devotes a multi-episode story arc to something that isn’t even addressed in this film. It’s not mentioned here because these people are the most basic of action movie characters, given such minimal characterization that it ultimately doesn’t matter what happens to any of them. Contraband? More like Contra-bored. (Sorry. That had to be done.) Until next time…

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Screen Gems has released a new trailer for Underworld Awakening which contains new action scenes involving Selene (Kate Beckinsale), more of Selene’s vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, and more of their battle against the Lycans.

Watch below:

“After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all.”

Swedish directing duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein are behind the camera, and John Hlavin (The Shield) wrote the script, which underwent revisions by J. Michael Straczynski (The Changeling). Len Wiseman, who directed the first two movies in the franchise, is producing.

Underworld: Awakening will be released in 3D on January 20th, 2012 and also stars Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley and Charles Dance.

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Screen Gems has released the new trailer for Underworld Awakening. The teaser mostly served to showcase the action scenes involving Selene (Kate Beckinsale), but in this trailer we see more of Selene’s daughter, and her battle against Lycans.

Watch below:

“After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all.”

Swedish directing duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein are behind the camera, and John Hlavin (The Shield) wrote the script, which underwent revisions by J. Michael Straczynski (The Changeling). Len Wiseman, who directed the first two movies in the franchise, is producing.

Underworld: Awakening will be released in 3D on January 20th, 2012 and also stars Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley and Charles Dance.

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Universal Pictures has released the official trailer for the neo-noir/heist thriller Contraband. The film catapults Mark Wahlberg into tough guy hero mode (a role that’s recently become his signature), with this going back to his Italian Job roots. The film also stars Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, J.K. Simmons and Ben Foster.

Watch the trailer below:

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills. Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Beckinsale), and sons become their target.

Contraband seems to be going for a potent cocktail of a dark and gritty crime thriller mixed with multiple surges of heist action that puts all players involved at high risk. As mentioned above, Wahlberg is paying his usual self, so don’t expect big life changing character acting to occur, especially when the action and bloody conflicts seem to be the main attraction here.

The movie is actually a remake of the 2008 Icelandic thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam, and it looks like it’s getting an American makeover (similar to the contemporary makeover that the Italian job spawned in 2003). Regardless, there hasn’t been many decent heist thrillers recently,so hopefully Contraband will satisfy in that department.

Contraband hits theaters on January 13, 2012.

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The first trailer for Underworld: Awakening has found its way onto YouTube, and it contains some rather slick action scenes involving Selene (Kate Beckinsale). I’m not sure whether Screen Gems meant for the trailer to be released just yet, so watch it while you can.

“After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all.”

Swedish directing duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein are behind the camera, and John Hlavin (The Shield) wrote the script, which underwent revisions by J. Michael Straczynski (The Changeling). Len Wiseman, who directed the first two movies in the franchise, is producing.

Underworld: Awakening will be released in 3D on January 20th, 2012 and also stars Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley and Charles Dance.

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Last month we heard that Kate Beckinsale had been offered one of the lead roles in Len Wiseman’s Total Recall remake, and now Collider has confirmed that Beckinsale has officially signed on, as has Jessica Biel (The A-Team) who will play the other lead female role, Melina.

The movie ditches the Martian storyline from the original 1990 movie and instead involves nation states Euromerica and New Shanghai. Colin Farrell plays Douglas Quaid, a factory worker in New Shanghai who begins to believe he is a spy — although he doesn’t know for which side.

With filming set to begin on Monday in Toronto other cast members are being confirmed, and Heat Vision reports that Bill Nighy (Underworld, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) will play Quatto, the leader of the resistance.

Total Recall is scheduled for released on August 3rd, 2012.

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Last month we heard several actresses, including Diane Kruger, Paula Patton, Eva Green and Eva Mendes, were in contention for two lead roles in Len Wiseman’s Total Recall remake. Now according to Deadline Wiseman has offered the role of Lori (played by Sharon Stone in the original film) to Kate Beckinsale, who also happens to be his wife.

Beckinsale is currently filming Underworld: New Dawn, but Wiseman wouldn’t have offered her the role if he knew she was busy, so she will probably be free to accept the offer.

The site also mentions Eva Mendes and Rosario Dawson are serious contenders for the other lead role, Melina, who will help Colin Farrell get to the bottom of the futuristic scandal on Mars.

The original 1990 film followed a man (Arnold Schwarzenegger) haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.

This updated version is being described as a “new, contemporized adaptation”, so it should be quite different to what we saw 20 years ago. Kurt Wimmer (Salt) has written the screenplay, and filming will begin over the upcoming months.

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