Before I get into my review, I want to put one thing to rest: "Repo Men" is in no way a "rip-off" of "Repo! The Genetic Opera". The former was based off of a novel written by Eric Garcia in 2001 (though it wasn't published until 2009), who got his inspiration from a short story he had written in 1997. In that regard, however, I am not saying that "Repo! The Genetic Opera" took anything from "Repo Men." The two films are very much different from one another and each have their own inspirations.
Now, for my review. I will start by saying that "Repo Men" was not the poorly crafted film the critics said it was going to be. The acting was solid, the cinematography wasn't too overblown, it was in no way unentertaining, and the story wasn't nearly as washed out and political as many current filmmakers would have taken the liberty to make it. To be honest, I really think that critics dropped the ball on this one, though I suppose that could be said of most critics most of the time.
First, what worked best for the film: the straightforward simplicity and the music. As I said before, "Repo Men" was not the heavy political satire it could have been. There were no corrupt politicians or business men or moral high grounds. Just a company that sold synthetic organs, people that wanted them, and individuals hired to repossess said organs if the client couldn't keep up with their payments. Also, the main characters weren't out to "take down the system." They were about 99.9% in it for themselves. That being said, the film was not overly predictable either. There were still plenty of twists and turns all the way through that culminate in an ending that will probably surprise you, though you may have seen it before. As for the music, I have to say that "Repo Men" has one of the most dynamic and well chosen soundtracks I have heard in a long time (in terms of using music not especially recorded for the film). Instead of just having songs that happen to be popular or that "sound" appropriate, the film uses songs that fit on both a rhythmical and lyrical level.
What didn't work for the film: the shallow character introductions (which hurts their development) and the ending. By the end of the film, I didn't really feel like I "knew" many of the characters and some of the people I saw the film with didn't even know most of the character's names. You see the characters do things and get a semblance of what their respective personalities are like, but you don't really get to know who they were before the events of the film or what they might be doing beyond what you see in the story. As for the ending, I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that it is one of those endings that explains a lot of the events you witness prior to it, but at the same time disappoints you for the things that it has "undone." Also, as a hint, I will say that I have seen an ending almost exactly like it in the "non-wholesome edit" of an 80's science fiction film.
I am awarding "Repo Men" three and a half stars out of five for being entertaining, relatively unpredictable, and for having a great soundtrack, but also for having weak character introductions and a fairly disappointing ending. I definitely thought that this film was worth the money I spent to see it, which is more than I can say for most of the films I have recently gone to see.
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