First and foremost, if you don’t like remakes, don’t bother watching the 2012 “Total Recall.” It has a story slightly different but with the same overlying plot, but really does no more than offers more advanced special effects and a performance not so campy as Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s.

For those that don’t mind a remake of a movie meant to be fun and rather frivolous, well, I cannot advise going out of your way to watch the flick any time soon. It will make for a fine time with the family or friends and a bowl of popcorn on a lazy, rainy evening in, but as to theater attraction, it isn’t spectacular.

Colin Farrell makes for a fine leading man lost and trying to fins himself in a sci-fi world of flying cars, robots and post-World War III economic culture. Farrell’s confused character has some of the same acting chops used when he portrayed the leading role in “The Recruit.”

Jessica Biel has the fairly simple role of being an attractive girl that is tough enough to take care of herself, but still needs the leading man to get the job done. Biel hasn’t really had any roles to demonstrate how great or poor an actress she might be, and this role is certainly nothing to be examined for talent, but as this is just a sci-fi action romp, I cannot really put her down. Some actresses are good looking and never do anything more than be a solid addition to a show.

Bill Nighy makes a fun cameo as the leader of the resistance, but his acting talent is fairly wasted. Nighy can really make a character pop and audiences smile, but this time he spoke little, moved less and kicks the bucket without anything more than a rather dull speech that could have been straight out of “The Matrix.”

Bryan Cranston helps pick up the movie as a fair turn as the lead bad guy. It is nowhere near as awesome a baddy as he is on “Breaking Bad,” but that show has had seasons to develop characters and story and it has a plot that makes folks’ ears perk up. Nevertheless, Cranston gets to flex a bit of acting, giving his character the most depth — despite being almost cookie-cutter, power-hungry political guy — of a character onscreen during “Total Recall.”

On the bright side, Kate Beckinsale is a strong female role after the like of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I love seeing a female role that can kick some ass while still not just having to be scantily clad; though there is a pleasant scene of Beckinsale’s pany-clad tush that you know the director shot the shot just to accentuate. Thankfully, her dialogue is probably the most entertaining and her character is really the reason to go see “Total Recall.” I would say this is reminiscent of her turn in “Underworld,” sans the trampire on were-hunk action.

Why, you might ask, have I been including such a generic rundown of the actors of the movie? I hate to say it, but that is what the new “Total Recall” is: generic.

Nothing stands out as spectacular. If you are entirely unaware of the plot, you might not figure out the twist before it hits for a little extra twinge of fun, but really this movie is just something neat to see and then go on with your day. In that respect it is a perfect action flick, because you can pay attention or do other things and still have that comfy feeling of watching mindless action and effects.

You do get a few homages to the original, the prostitute with three breasts and a reference to Mars, but when you are doing a movie that breaks no new ground, why not get some bad jokes in there? Personally, I want Johnny Cab and a cameo from Scwarzenegger, then I might sing a different tune.

My advice, go ahead and watch “Total Recall” if you have nothing to do. There is no need to see it any time soon, but go ahead and watch it for fun. If you are looking for one of those opportunities to involve a drinking game or the like for bad movie nights with the pals, like the original “Total Recall” offers, there isn’t one readily available that seems fun, so a couple more points against this remake. Really, the more I think about it, the new “Total Recall” becomes more and more dull, so I’ll stop here before I waste any more of my time.