User Reviews

I watched this film with my daughter and her college friends. I think that there is a significant difference in how you'll like it base on your age. Among teens and college students, this is a very hot film. Among older viewers, it's a bit incomprehensible--though I was surprised that Leonard Maltin gave such a positive review for the film. Several of the teens watching with me were singing along while my daughter kept covering her eyes at the goriest moments. Me, I just sat there and felt that the plot was awfully convoluted and had a lot of gaps, though I did admire the uniqueness of the film. I guess this is a sign that I am just getting old!

The film is a rock opera unlike any other. The music is certainly NOT the type you can hum along with or you'd expect to hear on the radio. Instead, it's as if they merged traditional opera with THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, the stage play "Les Misérables" and a traditional slasher film--with gallons and gallons of blood and tons of gore. Because it's such an odd combination, it's a truly surreal experience. And speaking of surreal, think about the strange casting--Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman and....Paris Hilton!? Despite the oddness of the cast, it did work pretty well. For the first time ever, Hilton seemed well cast as a self-absorbed lady who is addicted to plastic surgery. Her singing, while not great, was certainly NOT an embarrassment and she was more than capable.

As for the plot, this is one of the weakest points. In many ways, it seemed like it was never truly complete and it left me a bit confused here and there. I know they are talking about making a prequel, but I really wish that had been made first in order to fill in the gaps. In order to fill the viewers in on the back story, graphic novel-style graphics are inserted here and there to fill in the gaps and explain the characters. However, some (such as Sorvino's demented children) seemed to have no discernible motivation and I also was left wondering who and where there mother is and why they were total psychos. Also, the cities appear to have been blown to pieces and you wonder what has happened to the government and society.

The film begins near the middle of the 21st century. Apparently some sort of plague hit a few years back and caused widespread organ failures. In the midst of the death and carnage, Sorvino's company created a "cure"--synthetic organs for the masses. However, because many could not readily afford them, a "buy now-pay later" scheme was created. But, because some defaulted, "repo men" were created to repossess the organs if they failed to pay.

In the midst of this, there is a concurrent plot that never really seemed complete. A character named "Graverobber" and others have begun harvesting some sort of drug from corpses. You see this guy here and there and he's obviously been inserted in the film to please the ladies, but he is never really explained and the drug angle is never really realized. My daughter disagrees, as she sees him as an archetypal Fool--like a combination narrator, comic relief and the only character who seems to know what's going on in the film--sort of a literary device. Regardless, he just seemed to appear randomly and I wish there'd been some back story for him or necessary reason for his inclusion.

The main plot involves a sick relationship between Sorvino and Anthony Head (who, secretly, is a Repo Man). Years earlier, Sorvino's girlfriend left him and married Head. She died and left a daughter who Head adores but also smothers in his own little cocooned world. There's a lot more to this plot than this, but I don't want to introduce spoilers.

If I were scoring this film only on how much I enjoyed watching it, I probably would only give it a 4 or a 5. It was a bloody, disjointed and disgusting film. However, this is a hard film to rate and I need to consider how innovative and unique the film is as well--and in this department, it certainly rates a 10. Overall, my score of 7 seems like a reasonable compromise. I would love to see similar style films in the future, but with the blood and senseless violence toned down a bit.

Visually, I think this film is very stunning. The lighting, the costume design, the set, special effects... It gives off the impression that it has jumped right out of a graphic novel. (Which the film takes advantage of with comic panels used in helping to establish the origins of our characters, though I wish the film more like Ang Lee's Hulk movie, where the comic panels are used more so for scene transitions and just to look stylish.) There is some gore, though nothing completely over the top bloody. (Well, I didn't think so, anyway :P )

The music is constant throughout, as the title suggests. That is a bit of a nuisance to me, as I'm not the biggest fan of musicals. But then again, this is an opera. So I should've expected a lack of dialogue. The songs, though I cannot recall how they go without repeated listening, are quite good. There isn't one that stands out from the rest, but still are worth a listen outside of the film. The vocal performances I also found to be great.

Biggest problem with the film for me are the characters. Not that they were bad, but I didn't find that there was enough character development. When it seemed like they were about to, though, the film rushed straight into the next song. Then again, like I said, I don't watch many musicals, so I guess any character development was done through song. But not

I mostly enjoyed the visual aspect of this film, overall, as my review suggests. I doubt the rest of it has been helpful for anyone.

an epidemic of organ failure has devastated the planet.

GeneCo offers organ transplants for a hefty price. Those who miss their payments are hunted by Repo Men.

A young girl searches for the cure to her disease as well as her family's mysterious history.

After being pulled into the world of GeneCo, she is unable to turn back, and all of her questions will be answered at a hotly anticipated event, The Genetic Opera........

Kudos to the writers of this film for coming up with something so wickedly original, but the direction is a little flat, and the film isn't half as camp as you would, or the makers, want it to be.

It looks marvellous, all the sets are awe-inspiring, like some sort of Nightmare Bladerunner town, as designed by Charles Manson, but sets do not make a good film.

It's as if Bousman has watched Rocky Horror and Shock Treatment on a loop, and decided to meld the two together, with very mixed results.

The cast are great, especially Vega and Head, and some of the songs are pretty genius and toe tappingly catchy, but there are long segments of parts that are a little pointless, and this is the 97 minute version, so heavens knows what the long version is like.

All in all it's a curious piece, subliminally remade two years later with Jude Law, but something is missing, ironically, a little bit of heart wouldn't have hurt.

I got a chance to see Repo! at the Austin showing last night. I'd been keeping up with the forum, like most of ya'll have, and listening to the soundtrack on a loop. I thought I pretty much knew the whole plot before I'd seen the movie, and had a good idea of how it would end.

I was wrong.

For those of you who haven't been following the Repo! phenomenon, Repo! is an audacious rock opera (completely sung, with some occasional atonal, rhythmic dialogue) that takes place in a Gothic not-too-distant future. An epidemic of organ failures has broken out, but luckily, GeneCo, a massive genetics company, has a solution- They start harvesting organs and offering them to consumers with easy financing options. However, these organs are subject to default, and if you start missing your payments, GeneCo sends out the Repo Man to take back GeneCo's property.

Guiding us through this macabre world is Graverobber (Zdunich), a drug-runner who sells a cheap, black market version of Zydrate (a futuristic anesthetic that's like a glow-in-the-dark mix between codeine and ecstasy) to drug-and-surgery addicts on the street.

The movie largely takes place from the point of view of one of these Repo Men, Nathan Wallace (Head), and his daughter, Shiloh (Vega), who is suffering from an unnamed blood illness that makes traveling outside of her home dangerous, and possibly deadly, and who is unaware of her father's profession. In order to keep her safe, Nathan keeps Shiloh locked in her bedroom. Longing to explore the world outside, and bitter towards her mother for passing the blood disease on to her, Shiloh embodies one of the underlying themes of Repo!- Are our destinies sealed by fate (by our genetics), or do we have a choice in the matter?

Early on in the movie, Rotti Largo (Sorvino), the owner and founder of GeneCo, learns that his time is running out. Without skipping a beat, his two sons, the hellishly-tempered Luigi (Moseley) and the freakish playboy, Pavi (Ogre), begin to fight over who will take over when their father is gone. Meanwhile, the third Largo sibling, and poster child for the Zydrate Support Network, Amber Sweet (Hilton), dreams of being in the spotlight after the popular opera singer, and GeneCo spokeswoman, Blind Mag (Brightman), gives her upcoming farewell performance.

The film explores the connections between each of these individuals, and gives their backstories in comic book style vignettes that show how their lives were all once intertwined. Even if you've been following the Repo! site, these short stories provide shocking twists (I heard more than a few gasps when one such twist is revealed). They're an ingenious way of providing these back stories in a stylized manner without having to stretch Repo!'s already thin budget.

One of the things that really struck me about Repo! is how surreal the whole atmosphere is. The colours are very garish (lots of reds, blues, and yellows), and a very hyper-polished finish to the picture. Your computer screen really can't capture just how amazing it looks on the big screen.

And, of course, the other thing that stands out is the music. It's an eclectic mix of rock, punk, pop, electronica, and, of course, opera. I was a bit worried that since I'd been listening to the Pre-Surgery Sampler on a loop, and listening to the theatrical CD as well, that I'd pretty much heard the outstanding numbers in the movie, and that there wouldn't be many surprises. Again, I was surprised. One of the stand-outs for me was "Things You See In A Graveyard", with Rotti Largo's voice echoing throughout the atmosphere over a ghostly chorus of funeral-goers and thrashing guitar riffs. My other favorite is "Chromaggia's Lament", Mag's haunting, operatic farewell song.

While Repo! is VERY unique, and has some very colorful characters, it isn't the camp fest that I was expecting it to be. It's actually a very GOOD movie, and definitely has a heart behind all of it's badassness.

It's also VERY graphic. It was actually a bit more violent than I was expecting. While the violence typically occurs during songs that lessen their impact, and make them more humorous than scary, it's still very over-the-top, and several scenes in particular caused people in my screening to gasp and scream.

My only complaint about the film is that it occasionally appears a bit conflicted about what emotion it wants to elicit from you. I'll give you an example (and forgive me if it comes off as vague, I'm avoiding spoilers)- In one scene in particular, the gorgeously eery song being sung leads up to an act that is both powerfully moving and deeply repulsing. If it were a bit more tastefully executed, it would have come off as a beautiful, empowering scene, and a highly memorable one at that. However, rather than going for that particular emotional impact, the camera lingers on the extremely violent act being committed, without cutting away, to the point of being completely over-the-top, snuffing out its emotional aspect and causing it to be remembered as one of the most disgusting scenes in the movie, rather than one of the most beautiful.

Overall, I would definitely say that I enjoyed Repo!, and I'm looking forward to buying the soundtrack on September 30th. This movie is something that needs to be experienced on the big screen.

For anyone concerned about contented-related issues (if you're wondering if you should take your child, or if you have problems watching certain film content), here's how I'd rate it:

Violence: 9/10 (not pervasive, but when it happens, it's very graphic) Sex: 4/10 (some dialogue, situations, and mild nudity.. nothing to write home about) Scares: 5/10 (some disturbing situations... but it's mostly darkly humorous, rather than scary)

I'm giving Repo two stars rather than one because it did have a few redeeming elements in my book. It was visually very arresting, and the world depicted was oddly believable. I watched it all the way through, although I have to admit I watched most of Repo with eyes rolling and several derisive barks of laughter. The comparisons to Sweeney Todd and Rocky Horror do not fit for me. Sweeney Todd is one of the most intelligently written pieces of musical theater in the history of theater. Repo the Genetic Opera is, ultimately, deeply stupid, boiling down to a) the plot, which has more holes than cohesion and b) the lyrics, which are just about the worst lyrics I've ever heard sung. And I've heard a lot of lyrics in my time. So what now follows is a series of questions, all of which are probably spoilers. ¡ ~ ~SPOILER ALERT~ ~ ! 1) So, wait, people take the glowing blue drug in order to feel no pain from the surgeries they are addicted to? So are they addicted to the surgeries or the drug? 2) So the Repo Man apparently can find you wherever you are. Why is it, then, that all of his victims come to him? 3) Is there just one Repo Man? Just one? For all of this population who is apparently having all of these surgeries done? That would be one heck of a busy man. 4) So, wait. The surgeries people are having are life-saving surgeries in order to have failing organs replaced with new ones? If this is the case then why are people 'addicted to surgery?' Where does this whole plastic surgery fit in with this picture? Are they life-saving organ transplants or face-changing surgeries? 5) So, with the Paris Hilton character. If her father is the richest, most powerful person on the planet then why is she getting surgeries on the street? 6) Is everyone goth in the future? 7) I would just like to point out that 'anatomy' and 'surgery' do not rhyme. Ever. 8) So, wait. Paul Sorvino is this humanity-saving person who found a way to replace organs. Why, then, is he also humanity's scoundrel, taking the organs back? Did he develop this system of organ replacement simply to take the organs back? If that is the case then isn't humanity in the same place as it was during the 'plague' (or whatever vague thing it was that made organs fail in the first place) with organs failing or being ripped out? 9) So, the Repo man rips out an organ. Then what? Does it get re-used? Or does he do it simply to punish people who don't pay? 10) Okay, wait. So the father/Repo man/doctor character is told that he has to take out Blind Mag's eyes because he believes he poisoned his own wife 17 years ago? What kind of logic is that? "Dude, you have to take this lady's eyes out." "Why?" "Because you poisoned your wife 17 years ago." "Yes, I see what you mean. Where's my scalpel?" 11) So, wait. If the father is so concerned about his daughter not dying then why is he poisoning her? Um, what? 12) Why does Blind Mag yank her eyes out? 13) So, wait. Shilo obviously thinks Blind Mag is super cool. Why, then, does she not let her in the house when she visits? "Oh hi, Blind Mag. You're an international superstar and everything and I think you're really cool but no, you can't come in. For some reason, I'm inexplicably afraid of you right now. Nope. Can't even open the door. My father will be mad, although I can't explain why." 14) Riffing on #13: if Shilo's reason for not letting Blind Mag in is because her father will be mad (why would he be mad?) then why is it when her father comes home Shilo insists that they let Blind Mag in all of a sudden? And if Shilo is all afraid of her father then why does she start yelling at her father when he says Blind Mag has to go? Is Shilo the only person who sees the article in the tabloid that says Blind Mag is going to have her eyes repossessed? Are tabloids 100% accurate in the future? Did anyone read this script through before they started filming? 15) And, yeah. Shilo's father locks her in her room, right? And Shilo goes to her balcony and sings that she wants to go outside, indicating that she is locked in. In subsequent scenes she just, um, walks outside. Doesn't even climb down from her window. I am making a call to the Continuity Police. 16) I know this is way too much to ask, but why are Paul Sorvino's kids all one-dimensional unpleasant idiots? Don't give me this 'they're fighting over the family business' hoo-hah. 17) If grave robbers are executed on sight, then why doesn't the grave-robber-executing-squad execute the grave robber when they see him? Why do they mill around and around, ignoring him completely but then suddenly focusing on Shilo who is hiding behind a tombstone? 18) So you just put a needle into a dead person's nose and extract a glowing blue drug? I see. That makes sense. There's a lot more, of course. But I don't want to think about this any more. As I said, there are far more holes than there is any continuity. But above all, the lyrics are wretched. Bad, bad lyrics.

I'm a fan of 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' but not so much 'Repo!'. Both are outrageous rock musicals with campy B-movie style and dark humor. Three reasons why I prefer 'Rocky': 1) the playful sexuality, 2) the surreal story twists and 3) the 70's aesthetic.

There's no Tim Curry or Susan Sarandon here, no Meat Loaf and no Time Warp. What we get is the charismatic Anthony Steward Head, who we know from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and who delivers some nice singing performances in that show as well. Here he steals the show at every turn: his character is the only one who's actually compelling and his singing voice is pleasant and warm. Other characters include the aging CEO of an evil corporation, his depraved and moralless children (one of whom is played by none other than Paris Hilton) and an angsty teenage girl who wants to escape her sheltered life. Actually I liked her angsty teenage rock song 'Seventeen'! It reminded me of 'Cherry Bomb' by The Runaways.

The songs are more hard rock than the classic rock of 'Rocky' - there are pounding drums and scathing guitar riffs straight out of a 90's Metallica record. The story is fun and campy, and of course extremely dark and filthy, but it gets a little muddled at the end.