Repo Men (2010)Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik
Screenplay by: Eric Garcia and Garrett Lerner
Genre: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Running Time: 111 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Theater
Consider them your final notice.
[IMDb]
Comments: When a film is released, it generally falls into three categories for me. There are the films that I need to see in theaters, those that are destined to be rented, and movies where I make fun of the people who go to see them. Granted, I generally watch crappy horror films to begin with, but at least there’s usually nudity or graphic violence involved (or copious amounts of both, which usually results in me declaring that said film is the best ever made).
Anyway, Repo Men seemed like the perfect rental fodder for me: a film that’s entertaining while it lasts, but ask me about in two days and I won’t be able to tell you anything that happened in it. So why am I reviewing it during its theatrical run? Well, a few friends and I were out and planning on seeing The Crazies. Luckily for us, the web guy for my local cinema was out of town, and apparently no one else knew how to update the damn website. That, in turn, meant that The Crazies wasn’t showing at that particular time, so Repo Men it was.
Repo Men tells the story of Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker), two men that work for The Union. You see, it’s the future, and all this fancy technology we’ve created means that humans no longer need organ transplants. The Union can provide you with the latest liver in case you drink yours to death. That’s all fine and dandy until you can’t pay the bill, when Remy and Jake come along and slice you open, removing the organs you purchased (and most likely killing you in the process),
This brings me to the first weird part of the film. Throughout the first act, the people that are unable to pay for the organs are hunted down and slaughtered. The film tries to make them look guilty, but in reality mostly innocent people are being slain for failing to pay their bills (much to the delight of the audience). Imagine if this happened if people didn’t pay their credit card bill?
Inevitably, Remy gets fucked up and requires an artificial heart. Despite being portrayed as a top repo man with a moderate wealth, Remy is unable to pay his bill (weird part #2). He also stops collecting artificial organs, because he sees himself as the victims and can no longer saw them open. All of this is occurs within a minute, and we quickly advance a few months to where Remy is being hunted by The Union. Who needs a solid plot when we can have lots of action and violence?
After a lot of scenes involving Remy and his new lady friend, Beth (Alice Braga) running away from Jake and The Union, Repo Men builds to a rather action-packed final act. There’s a particularly awesome scene where Remy needs to get to a door, and there’s about 15 people in his way. Cue the energetic music, and one hell of a kick-ass fight breaks out. It really doesn’t fit in too much with the rest of the film (it feels like something out of Shoot ‘Em Up or Wanted), but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t awesome and probably the best thing about Repo Men.
While Jude Law and Forest Whitaker seem like an odd pair, the two work surprisingly well together. Both are talented actors, although neither seems like your typical action star. However, they turn in fine performances and are certainly both believable in their roles (despite the fact that Jude Law looks exactly like Forrest Gump throughout most of the film).
In the end, Repo Men was exactly what I thought it would be at the beginning: a solid rental. Despite the film’s numerous flaws, I generally found myself entertained. There’s unfortunately a few twists and turns along the way that diminish the overall impact of the film, but for pure entertainment value, it’s hard to go wrong with Repo Men.
Anyway, Repo Men seemed like the perfect rental fodder for me: a film that’s entertaining while it lasts, but ask me about in two days and I won’t be able to tell you anything that happened in it. So why am I reviewing it during its theatrical run? Well, a few friends and I were out and planning on seeing The Crazies. Luckily for us, the web guy for my local cinema was out of town, and apparently no one else knew how to update the damn website. That, in turn, meant that The Crazies wasn’t showing at that particular time, so Repo Men it was.
Repo Men tells the story of Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker), two men that work for The Union. You see, it’s the future, and all this fancy technology we’ve created means that humans no longer need organ transplants. The Union can provide you with the latest liver in case you drink yours to death. That’s all fine and dandy until you can’t pay the bill, when Remy and Jake come along and slice you open, removing the organs you purchased (and most likely killing you in the process),
This brings me to the first weird part of the film. Throughout the first act, the people that are unable to pay for the organs are hunted down and slaughtered. The film tries to make them look guilty, but in reality mostly innocent people are being slain for failing to pay their bills (much to the delight of the audience). Imagine if this happened if people didn’t pay their credit card bill?
Inevitably, Remy gets fucked up and requires an artificial heart. Despite being portrayed as a top repo man with a moderate wealth, Remy is unable to pay his bill (weird part #2). He also stops collecting artificial organs, because he sees himself as the victims and can no longer saw them open. All of this is occurs within a minute, and we quickly advance a few months to where Remy is being hunted by The Union. Who needs a solid plot when we can have lots of action and violence?
After a lot of scenes involving Remy and his new lady friend, Beth (Alice Braga) running away from Jake and The Union, Repo Men builds to a rather action-packed final act. There’s a particularly awesome scene where Remy needs to get to a door, and there’s about 15 people in his way. Cue the energetic music, and one hell of a kick-ass fight breaks out. It really doesn’t fit in too much with the rest of the film (it feels like something out of Shoot ‘Em Up or Wanted), but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t awesome and probably the best thing about Repo Men.
While Jude Law and Forest Whitaker seem like an odd pair, the two work surprisingly well together. Both are talented actors, although neither seems like your typical action star. However, they turn in fine performances and are certainly both believable in their roles (despite the fact that Jude Law looks exactly like Forrest Gump throughout most of the film).
In the end, Repo Men was exactly what I thought it would be at the beginning: a solid rental. Despite the film’s numerous flaws, I generally found myself entertained. There’s unfortunately a few twists and turns along the way that diminish the overall impact of the film, but for pure entertainment value, it’s hard to go wrong with Repo Men.
No comments:
Post a Comment