The Recall 2017 * 1/2 Stars

Director: Mauro Borrelli
Year: 2017
Rated R
Rating: * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Wesley Snipes, RJ Mitte, Laura Bilgeri

Five friends leave L.A. to hit the wilderness for a fun, relaxing vacation. Little do they know that Earth is the subject of an alien abduction and a target of mass destruction. That's the essence of The Recall, my latest review.

Damaging the reputation of Canadian productions to a fault, "Recall" contains an Uber-twist and readily shortcuts its overall premise. It pastes some of its out of place scenes right from the get-go. One involves an unconnected, storm discovery at an Alaskan weather station. The other has to do with unknown astronauts getting their ears blown out in outer space. These clips vaguely connect to the overall plot and I do mean vaguely. A 1990 offering with a similar title (Total Recall), is ten times more exciting.

Of all people, The Recall is produced by and co-stars Wesley Snipes. You wonder if Snipes was better off staying in prison for failing to file tax returns as opposed to appearing in the swipe that is "Recall". It's good to see that he's trying to be relevant again but his raspy, Snipes-like demeanor feels like it's coming from another flick altogether.

Wesley gives a decent performance in The Recall as a renegade, extraterrestrial hunter. However, he is the only compelling thing in it. "Recall" is one of the cheesiest, most low budget offerings to ever enter the science fiction, horror canon. In jest, it's the equivalent of Predator, Cabin Fever, The 5th Wave, The Forgotten, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind committing a solitary gang bang. The cinematic toddler emerges and you could truly call it illegitimate. Hollywood may be germane but with "Recall", it reeks of assembly line fodder.

All in all, it takes a good forty-five minutes for The Recall to get going. Added to that, the actors are all good-looking yet stereotypical with the ET taking element appearing customary and fairly outdated. There are times when you actually laugh at this movie calling it a special effects parody (the alien species look like red, tacky jellyfish). Other times, you roll your eyes at how "Recall's" twenty-something characters can be so run-of-the-mill and so wonted. Bottom line: With The Recall, Redbox fails anew for trying to be a credible way to rent something. No need to "recall" this thing after you see it. Rating: 1 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson