Fantastic Fest '08: Repo! The Genetic Opera
Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw 2, 3, 4)
Rated: R
Stars:
Alexa Vega (Spy Kids)
Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Sarah Brightman (Soprano extraordinaire and the original Christine Daae from Phantom of the Opera)
Paul Sorvino (Character actor of Awesomeness)
Paris Hilton (House of Wax, gossip columns galore)
Official website (warning, has sound and must be 18+ to enter): http://www.repo-opera.com/
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963194/
Fantastic Fest: http://fantasticfest.bside.com/2008/films/repothegeneticopera_fantasticfest2008
I have to say for a film that's not been released, Repo! has a hard-core fanbase which descended upon the Alamo Drafthouse complete with glow-sticks, costumes, and full knowledge of the show's lyrics. While the second showing that I attended was a bit more, um, restrained, I'm told that the first resembled a full-fledged sing-along in places. I'm almost positive that the owners and managers took notice and I await the announcement of the "official" Alamo sing-along any day now.
But in-person amusement aside, Repo! aims to be a bloody, in-your-face, goth-glam, rock 'n' roll roller coaster-ride of a musical. And it succeeds, mostly. Bousman has collected a cast of amazing talent, both on-screen and off, to rip into his world of catastrophic organ failure, murderous repossessions, and corporate greed, and the hard work is apparent. Art directed to within an inch of its life, Repo!'s gorgeous made-for-Halloween costumes and sets evoke a Rocky Horror Picture Show cast run amok, with gallons of blood and guts play with, and an S&M undertone to flirt with. The propaganda posters that litter the world touting GeneCo's products are well designed and feed into the corporate greed and fear the audience is meant to feel oozing out of every brick and blood splatter.
The plot is a dystopian paint-by-number in which disaster A, a world-wide case of organ failures, is averted/saved by megalomaniac B, Rotti Largo and GeneCo, which manages to privatize organ replacement. As it often happens in these sort of films, Largo's GeneCo has taken over the world, more or less enslaving the public to his easy-to-finance medical and surgical procedures. Sign on the dotted line and save your life - but if you miss a payment, your organs are subject to repossession by the sadistic Repo-Man. Regardless of whether or not you can live without them. Heroine C, Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega) was born into this world of violence and dark beauty, but her own medical issues keep her indoors and over-protected by Doting Father D, Nathan Wallace (Anthony Head). There's a plethora of backstory between the Wallaces and Largo, all of which serve to complicate the plot and drive the narrative along. It's a solid plot, but some of the movie's editing choices and the movie's pacing make parts of it a bit difficult to follow, or the opposite, make the audience feel like they've been force-fed a chunk of exposition by a cannon.
The cast acquits itself amazingly in this tangle of plotlines, even Paris Hilton, who's surgery-addicted Amber Sweet seems tailor-made for everyone's favorite celebutante. Anthony Head is really brilliant as the torn and manipulated Nathan Wallace who's obsessive devotion to his daughter Shilo is only interrupted by his conscripted "day job" as the feared Repo-Man. Ruling over it all is Paul Sorvino's Rotti Largo, a cruel and greedy master of all the world, but loved by none. He plays the GeneCo CEO with a comic-book villain pastiche, playing not only the Wallace's, but his own debauched children like little puppets on a string. All with a sneer and a song. However, I think the best surprise was Sarah Brightman's Blind Mag, the opera singer enslaved to Largo's corporate machine. So often movies try to fake true operatic sopranos in place of the real thing, and it's much to Bousman's credit that he signed Brightman to this project. She has not only the pipes, but the macabre waif-like quality that really sells the role.
If this rock-opera has a fatal flaw, it's unfortunately the music itself. The emo-goth roots of the musical as a whole are impossible to miss, and unfortunately by holding to them so very tightly, the music loses the subtlety that would save it. Individually, the pieces are great, but together they blend into a loud messy whole with little variation in tempo, volume, or thematic elements. Granted, the in-your-face attitude of the pieces works for the movie's overall theme of violence and disaster; however the lack of softer moments, especially between the Wallaces, is sorely felt. As an audience member, its often hard to sustain focus when all you have before you is the flash and bang and no moment to catch your breath.
Is it a good film? I'd say yes, it's good as a horrific costumed horror piece. But as a traditional musical? Not so much. If you want a good horror musical, stick to your Sweeney Todd. In the end, as I'm a sucker for extreme art direction and fantastical worlds it worked for me. Additionally, anyone interested in seeing Buffy's stalwart librarian/father figure become a conflicted father/eviscerating Repo Man, should check it out as well.