Bryan Cranston Played The Villain In A Controversial Remake Of A '90s Sci-Fi Movie
Some sci-fi remakes are better than the original movie, but 2012's "Total Recall" isn't one of them. That's not to say it's a bad movie, but its polarizing reputation indicates that not everyone is a fan. However, the film features Bryan Cranston in a villainous role, and who doesn't love seeing this actor break bad?
Directed by Len Wiseman, the "Total Recall" remake stars Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale in a futuristic tale of tyranny. Douglas Quaid (Farrell) learns that his memories are fabricated, sending him on a crusade to discover the truth. He then learns that Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen (Cranston) plans on destroying an entire civilization, forcing him to team up with resistance forces to save the day.
"Total Recall" makes several changes from the 1990 flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger — a mind-bending sci-fi movie based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. Most notably, it's set entirely on Earth instead of Earth and Mars, which is quite a departure. What's more, the remake plays the story straight, while Paul Verhoeven's original is more satirical and open-ended.
The remake was praised for its set-pieces, but critics noted that it pales in comparison to the O.G. due to a lack of humor and three-dimensional characters. Be that as it may, Cranston was attracted to the project because he felt there were layers to his villain.
Why Bryan Cranston enjoyed playing his Total Recall character
It would have been easy to make Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen an evil dictator who wants to wipe out humans for the sake of it. Granted, he's an objectively terrible person, but as real people tend to do, he thinks he's reasonable in his own mind. Bryan Cranston tried to understand the character's nuances, allowing him to see Cohaagen as more than an evil tyrant.
"[He] doesn't want to kill millions of people, but he will if he has to. He honestly feels that, and this is part of the ego of him, that his way is the best way," Cranston told Collider. "And these people, 'Believe me, trust me I'm doing this for all of you, yes you're the proletariat but I will take care of you as long as you stay in line. And you'll all have jobs.'"
For context, Cranston's character wants to take over a place known as The Colony, as doing so will benefit his United Federation of Britain. As Cranston sees him, Cohaagen believes he would have taken care of people who fell in line — but conflict doesn't work that way. No one will want to root for Cohaagen while watching "Total Recall." However, most folks will have fun watching Cranston portray a tyrant who thinks he's justified.