here's one that flew under radar recently, a sci-fi thriller that is not aimed at kids and doesn't feature either Will Smith or The Rock, but instead two Oscar nominated actors and an Oscar winner. The Film in question is REPO MEN...
check after the jump for my review...
check after the jump for my review...
///////WARNING! SPOILERS AFTER THE BREAK\\\\\\\\
Modern Science Fiction films are usually aimed towards teenagers with films such as I,ROBOT or BABYLON A.D, but more recently they've become aimed more towards the mature viewer, this was the case with the recent Vampire film DAYBREAKERS and the film i'm about to review...
In some ways, aiming these films to more adult viewers is kind of their downfall, as the average age of the movie goer is between 12-18 and these films, although getting theatrical releases don't do much box office because people are not going to see them, also due to them being science fiction, alot of people dismiss them as Sci-fi is normally a Geek Genre. REPO MEN is what you'd get when you cross SAW with Philip K Dick, a futuristic action thriller that isn't shy when it comes to showing the gore, and there's a lot of it.
The Plot:
The plot follows two 'Repo Men' who work a company called The Union. There job is to retrieve artificial body parts people have been fitted with. When they can't keep up with the payments the repo men take back the 'add-on'. Remy and Jake are the best in the business and also best friends from high school through an unnamed war. After an accident during a repossession, Remy is put into a coma and when he awakes finds himself hooked up to a machine regulating his heart. After an argument about the machine and how Remy doesn't want to be one of their clients he pulls the tubes out which would kill him, he's persuaded by Jake and their boss Frank to get the proper heart machine installed. When Remy can't keep up with the payments he goes on the run where he meets Beth who is more machine than person. Her payments are also overdue and they decided to go on the run together, unfortunately Jake is the one to track Remy Down. Friends have now become enemies and all the cards are dealt. The film ends with Remy and Beth at The Union's Corporate head quaters, there to remove themselves from the database so they can live in peace.
The Cast:
For a film like this the cast is unbelievable. Jude Law plays Remy, Forest Whitaker as Jake, Alice Braga as Beth and Liev Shreiber as Frank and there's a nice little cameo from John Leguizamo.
Jude Law looks as though he's piled on the muscle for Remy and he actually makes a pretty decent action hero. The only problem being his accent, we know for sure that he was in America as a child as he meets Jake in school, but for some reason Remy has a very english accent, this maybe due to Law not being able to a Yank accent. But he's still pretty good.
Forest Whitaker is also on form as Jake, the man tasked with tracking down Remy, but is reluctant do to so at first. Whitaker is the kind of actor who is always on form when you see him, a constant professional.
Alice Braga, Is pretty good as Beth, she brings a much needed female character to the story due to all the testosterone floating around. I'd only ever seen her as Anna in I Am Legend and i was quite impressed by her in this.
Liev Shreiber has made the role of the slimy boss his own playing pretty kind of character who is only interested in money and since seeing him in Scream as Cotten Weary, Shreiber has carved a out pretty good career for himself, he reminds me of Aaron Eckhart, not a list actors but they are bankable none the less.
Carice Van Houten plays Remy's estranged wife Carol who pleads for him to move from repo to sales. She's pretty good but isn't given enough screen time.
The Direction:
The direction is good, Miguel Sapochnik, who seems to cut his teeth as a music Vid director brings that sort of style to the film but makes it more of movie than music vid. There are scene in the film that you can tell have been lifted directly from other films such as the scene where Remy takes on a group of men in a corridor, which is very reminiscent of OLDBOY and the twist ending is very BRAZIL. But all in all the direction is good.
The production design is also outstanding along with the visual F/X, the cities of the near future have very tall skyscrapers that have monorails running between them at different levels, and the city is littered with very large neon billboards ala BLADE RUNNER.
The practical F/X are outstanding as film doesn't skimp on the gore. Due to the job of the repo men, we see people getting cut open, things getting ripped out of bodies, blood splattered bullet shots and a scene where Beth rams her hand into Jude Law's side to get under his ribcage to scan his fake heart in a scene that is trying to be erotic while Law slices open Beth to be able to scan all 11 of her metal enhancements, set to the sound of Moloko's Sing it Back song. The entire scene is shot incredibly well.
There are some nice little WTF moments in the film such as Beth's Eyes that change color and a scene where she plugs and set of headphones into her ear and adjusts the volume with a little volume when just at the back of her ear. I thought that was pretty cool.
The Script:
The script is pretty good and isn't afraid to use the F word a few times, the dialogue is pretty good and there are some good ideas that translate well to the screen. The script is written by Eric Garcia and Garrett Lerner and is based on the book The Repossession Mambo by Garcia. Although the film is flawed as somethings aren't explained well it's still very very enjoyable.
My Verdict:
When i first read the synopsis for REPO MEN, it sound exactly like REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, this was quite off putting as the latter had only recently come out. The plot did sound the same and then the trailer came out. REPO MEN couldn't be any different. The film is basically a chase film set in the future, think LOGAN'S RUN crossed with SAW with a dash of BLADE RUNNER and a sprinkling of MINORITY REPORT and what you have is an all be-it unorginal film that is unbelievably entertaing and a cracking watch when all copies of GASH OF THE TITANS are out at the video shop. For me this was top notch entertainment.
FILM: 8/10
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