Random Movie Review: Repo! The Genetic Opera [Archive]

Chie'N'Kadath

02-17-2009, 01:52 PM

As is habit, I often peruse my local rental store for movies to watch. When I picked up Repo! I had no idea what to really expect. I was interested in the film when I first saw a trailer at last years showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but I didn't see it playing in any theaters.

Repo! is a Rock Opera directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, known for better or for worse for the first 3 mediocre sequels to James Wan's Saw. Repo's story is a bit hard to explain without going into too much detail or spoilers. The set up deals however, with a future in which organs and surgeries can be paid off through financing, and this is needed both because an epidemic has been killing off peoples natural organs and Surgery has become a fashion statement. However, "Organ Repossession" is legal, and if you don't make your payments, a Repo-Man will be sent out to rip the replacement organs from your body. The rest of the film revolves around a rather interesting web of deception all revolving around a woman named Marni. There is another main character named Shilo, but she doesn't seem very interesting and she has less bearing on the story than her father Nathan; the creator of GeneCo (The company that does the surgeries and makes the organs) Rotti Largo; and finally, Blind-Mag, a singer whose life is bound to GeneCo because they made her eyes and gave her the ability to see.

The music itself is hit and miss. Most of the songs are good, but some are poor- specifically the ones involving Rotti Largo's children who are all played by people who can't sing at all, which is a bit sad because they are interesting characters. I personally loved the character of Pavi, who is a sexually-starved psychotic who steals peoples faces and stitches them upon the previous face. However, the rest of the singers do a fantastic job. Alexa Vega is adequate as Shilo, but the ones who stand out are Rotti, Nathan, and Blind-Mag. Rotti has a great operatic voice that fits great for his character. Nathan's character is great as both himself and the (SPOILER! Highlight to read)sadistic Repo-Man, who is often a cathartic variation of his character which has him switching from his cool, soothing voice and a disturbing and fittingly sadistic sounding voice- but he can always hold a tune. Blind-Mag is easily the best singer in the film, and has a gorgeous voice that is perfect for both some of the more rock oriented sequences as well as a beautiful Italian Opera sequence. My favourite song in the film, Chase The Morning, is sung by Blind-Mag and Shilo, as well as the ghost of Shilo's dead mother. I really liked the scene both for the song, as well as the cool visuals in which Blind-Mag uses her cybernetic eyes to project the ghost of Shilo's dead mother. It's a haunting and really cool scene. (See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyLyH_3Gch4) The low points of the music usually involve Paris Hilton's character, though thankfully she doesn't sing much. Also theres a rather funny scene where her face falls off, so she's at least tolerable in some sequences.

The biggest flaws next to the occasionally poor singing/songs are the fact that there are some plot holes, as well as some scenes that feel like they have more style than real substance. I also felt one too many misogynistic undertones in the film. There are several random and pointless scenes where women just randomly go into sexual poses together for no reason as well as some scenes that seem to use the brutal murder and abuse of women as a sort of bad running gag.

Despite these flaws, I thorougly enjoyed Repo! and you might too if you like stylish flicks with some decent music. It's nothing amazing, but its entertaining and unique and very worth seeing.

7.5/10.

If some of its more glaring flaws were fixed, I would gladly give it an 8.