Repo Men

[Mark Tolch]

Repo Men
(BD from Netflix)



“Let's see, do we have all we need for a sci-fi action flick here: Dystopian future? Concrete blocks with shorn rebar? Blade Runner set design? Multi-ethnic cast? War-veteran, world-weary narrator? Slick tech and further cyberpunk-lifted material? Yep, everything checks out for Repo Men - let's shoot this thing!”

To be fair, this is a tested formula that can work and it really wants to here. Unfortunately, first time-helmer Miguel Sapochnik doesn't know what kind of movie to make and it ends up a pretty much forgettable mess. The story is this: It's the future and organ replacements are pretty cool but, also, sold at exorbitant rates such that most folks have to pay on installments. Failure to pay causes immediate re-possession by brutish thugs. Enter our heroes, Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker), long-time buddies and borderline psychopaths who thoroughly enjoy their work, carving up overdue contracts with gory glee. Remy's personal life is a mess as, apparently, repo men have to work nights so they can lurk and pop out of shadows. He's wanting out of this game but Jake and their smarmy boss Frank (Liev Schrieber) don't want him to quit. So when an accident occurs they slap a new mechanical heart into Remy in an attempt to guarantee his continued service.

Trouble is, now, being on the receiving end, Remy realizes he doesn't like this job. He gets into a pickle between his friend and his conscience. I guess that's his motivation for flipping out and throwing everything he has into helping a junkie singer (Alice Braga) with many implants to get clean and escape the bad repo men. At least, I think that's the story. Again, jumbled mess here. Some good action - including the 2nd best hallway fight with tools (behind Old Boy) I've seen - and gore along with a homage or blatant rip-off of Brazil's ending follow.

Repo Men has many chances to make a clear statement but, unfortunately, it's ultimately overdue without paying off and thus is left to being re-po'ed to the Forgettable Films file.

Rating: C-

(The BD quality is pretty spectacular, though, I must say.)

[Mark Tolch]

yeah, i really didn't like this one at all. I wanted to...but it fell pretty flat. The upside is that I normally like Forest Whittaker and can't stand Jude Law, but the opposite happened with this flick.

The ending pissed me off.