Karen and I saw Paycheck at the cinema last night. I think we caught Hoyts’s last scheduled Australian session. It was exactly our kind of movie: heavy on the sci-fi, action and adventure, very light on the angst, insight and character development.
As the movie unfolded, I couldn’t help but notice similarities with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990 sci-fi, Total Recall, including the hero with a memory wipe, the gigantic conspiracy, the pure-hearted girl, the sneaky substitute girl, the treacherous friend and fortune telling. The reason for this is that Paycheck and Total Recall are based on Philip K. Dick short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.
Paycheck’s fight scenes, on the other hand, are faster, lighter and more artistic than Total Recall’s. I didn’t twig as to why until a white dove appeared (for no apparent reason) just as the climactic confrontation scene began —John Woo‘s trademark.
Comments
Alan,
Paycheck isn't based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". It's based on (surprise) "Paycheck".
Cheers,
Your friendly neighbourhood PKDick-obsessive pal.