REPO! - The Genetic Opera
So I promised (in a way) that I would blog about this movie. Heaven knows I've been talking about it a lot... Honestly, it surprises me just how much it has captured my imagination.
So that everyone knows what I'm blathering about, here's the IMDB page.
First off, let me establish clearly, for the record, that I do NOT like gore/slasher/horror flicks. Violent bloodbaths on-screen make me ill, and I have no desire to put up with them. Second, I'm not much of a rock/metal/punk music afficionado, although I confess to having quite a few albums containing music of that sort, mostly movie soundtracks... (go figure.) Third, I'm not a graphic novel/comic book geek. At all.
REPO! has it all, and for some bizarre reason I'm hooked.
I don't suppose it hurts that I've always had a sort of geeky thing for Anthony Stewart Head... or that the man playing the Graverobber is excessively hawt in a gothy way AND does things with his voice that make my innards quiver...
Okay, some of you are probably still going, "WTF? Where on earth did she hear about this movie?" Heh... Comic-Con. Yeah, the non-comic-geek went to Con this year. Well, worked hospitality, and thereby wound up with a pass and got into some of the panels and stuff. I honestly don't recall how we wound up in the Repo! preview panel. Might have been what was running before the Dr. Horrible full-play... I'm sure one of my loves will refresh my memory. Tony was definitely the hook, and the story seemed a bit intriguing... Music was rough on my ears, but I guessed we'd be looking out for it anyway, and I would likely go with my family.
Then, a month or so ago, I discovered that the soundtrack was available for download from the official REPO! site. Naturally, I passed word along, and downloaded it. Not that I listened to it myself... I started to, and just wasn't getting into it, especially as I didn't have the time to just sit and absorb it with lyric sheets in hand. I needed a visual reference, or the time to sit down with it; the latter was not going to happen. So it languished on my computer until this week.
Found out from the official site that the theatrical release was going to be RIDICULOUSLY limited, and that the only two theatres anywhere close were L.A. and Pasadena, both art-house theatres owned by the same company. Um... okay. Then heard a rumour that it was only booked for a WEEK, and would be going away after that unless the response was terrific. Well, hell. So I set about trying to coordinate all six of my dear ones' schedules so we could go see it en masse. Right. That didn't happen. Finally gave up and got tickets for two of us to go Saturday night. And then found out later that week that my husband and the two girls got tickets to the showing just before ours at the same theatre. *snort*
Come last Saturday night... I had no idea what to expect. I figured the theatre would be PACKED with rabid comic/graphic novel/sci-fi/goth/punk/Rocky fans, all having traveled from miles around to see this phenomenon in its debut. After all, the Con response had been amazing. There were fewer than 30 people in the audience for a 7:50 PM showing on a Saturday. *thud* The director AND one of the writers were there, and they gave a little speech before the movie started. Basically, a plea to talk about the movie, blog about it, review it online, etc. because they didn't have much advertising, and no trailers in front of other movies, so the only way the word was going to get out was us... all less-than-thirty of us... (some of whom were members of the L.A. stage production.) They said some people were calling it the Best movie of the year, some the Worst; they didn't care how we felt about it, just that we DID feel something about it, and to PLEASE TALK about it. Um... Okay, sure. (Was rather bummed that they didn't stick around to talk to people after the show. Alas.)
So, the movie itself... Is a whole lot of wow. And a WHOLE lot of Karo syrup! And very definitely operatic in its story style; melodramatic and over the top, but without being campy. I've been trying to come up with a likening for it, and the closest I've gotten is "Jesus Christ Superstar" (rock opera) meets "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (quasi-futuristic/fetishist) meets "Judge Dredd" (futuristic legal vigilante) meets "House of 1000 Corpses" (the most disgustingly gory film I've seen. There's probably something more appropos, but not in MY experience.)
Story concept: It's sometime in the not-too-distant future (still 21st century.) As industrialization and technology spread, something goes horribly wrong with nature, and people start dying by the millions due to internal organ failure. The only way to survive is to get a replacement, but with so many dead and dying, they're in scarce supply. Until Rotti Largo, the owner of GeneCo, comes up with a way to grow/harvest and provide healthy organs... for a price, naturally. And the price of life is high, but if you can't afford it up front, GeneCo will gladly finance your organ(s) for you. Don't fall behind on your payments, though, because after 90 days delinquency, the Repo Man will come and take back GeneCo's property, with no provision for your survival... Yeah, it's legal.
Nathan Wallace is the Repo Man. He's also father to Shilo Wallace, a 17-year-old girl whom he has managed to keep sheltered from this horrific world because she has the same blood disease that killed her mother... Sort of. Shilo thinks her dad is a doctor; she knows nothing of his true profession. In typical teenage rebellious fashion, she just wants to get outside, and spends her time sneaking out of the house and collecting insects. On one excursion, she gets trapped outside and meets the Graverobber.
Graverobber is rather like Che in "Evita"; he's the conscience of this world and the narrator for the story. He's also a peddler of an illegal street version of Zydrate, the drug developed by GeneCo to help patients deal with the pain of surgery and recovery. He supplies this to Z addicts and "surgery sluts," like Rotti Largo's daughter, Amber Sweet.
Amber and her two brothers, Luigi and Pavi, are Rotti Largo's progeny and his shame. At the beginning of the movie, we find out that Rotti is dying, despite everything his company can do. For the rest of the movie, the siblings squabble over inheriting GeneCo, while Rotti plots how to be as nastily vengeful to everyone in the entire thing as possible... How to leave "those vultures" nothing, leaving GeneCo to Shilo, but only after using her father to kill her godmother, and her to kill her father... Yeah; bitter, party of Rotti.
Luigi has absolutely NO redeeming qualities whatsoever. I've TRIED to think of something, but his character wholly repulses me. I can almost pity Amber for her addiction. Pavi is disturbing, but not as horrifically dangerous as Luigi, and he's almost comical at times.
Blind Mag is an interesting character and useful in the plot twists. Sort of like Buttercup in "Pirates of Penzance." Rotti 'owns' her, she's Shilo's godmother, was Marni's (Nathan's wife/Shilo's mom/Rotti's lost love) best friend... She pays for her electronic corneas with her service, and when she finally decides she's had enough and wants to quit, Rotti sics the Repo Man on her. Only Nathan can't do it, because she was Marni's best friend.
There are a couple of points in the movie when we get to see Nathan transform into the Repo Man. Yes, it's very Jekyll and Hyde, and VERY well done. I'm personally of the opinion that the switch is almost a defense mechanism, though it's clearly made by choice. Nathan couldn't do those things, but he knows he has to, so he chooses to change utterly... and the Repo Man REVELS in what he does. Two words: Meat Puppet. If you see the film, you'll know what I mean. *twitch*
There are plot holes galore, and a lot of scene/set design that leaves a lot to be desired when you really think about it*, and a TON of questions left unanswered... but not in the way that screams "sequel set-up!" The cinematography is very good, and makes it easy to suspend disbelief while you're watching. The music is... different, and all over the map. There are songs in the soundtrack that don't show up in the movie that (now that I'm listening to it) bring up other questions and prompt speculation. The soundtrack is in a different order than the movie tracks, so those who've been listening to the soundtrack are having to readjust to the movie, while I find myself rearranging the tracks as I'm listening to match the visual references I now have. (And I'm annoyed that the Graverobber's final song from the movie is NOT included on the soundtrack.)
The acting is, overall, very good. Anthony Head was brilliant; I should not gush any further on that. Paris Hilton surprised me, but then again she was very aptly suited to the character she played. Paul Sorvino wore on the nerves a little bit from time to time, but he played the part to the letter, and convincingly. Very interesting and spot-on casting of Sarah Brightman as Mag. Alexa Vega did a good job as the gothy, teenage, angsty, sickly shut-in and pawn-turned-heroine.
Alright, it's 6:30 and I've been at this long enough. Time to go home. I STRONGLY recommend this movie to anyone intrigued by any of the above listed genres, but I WARN YOU: it's a wild and overwhelming mash-up of them all, so you may hate it or you may love it, or it may take a while to grow on you. I'm in that last category, and am honestly surprised by it. Stretching my limits, I suppose... but don't ask me to go see any of the Saw movies, thanks.
PS: If you can't deal with the sight of blood, DO NOT GO. That is all. *grin*
PPS: I know there are ideas about the film I've forgotten to post here... Hopefully I'll have the presence of mind to add them later on.
*Having recalled the origins of this particular project, (i.e. small black-box theatre settings,) I totally understand the minimalism of some of the sets now, particularly the medical-application settings. Totally forgiven. I've worked in those conditions myself.
So that everyone knows what I'm blathering about, here's the IMDB page.
First off, let me establish clearly, for the record, that I do NOT like gore/slasher/horror flicks. Violent bloodbaths on-screen make me ill, and I have no desire to put up with them. Second, I'm not much of a rock/metal/punk music afficionado, although I confess to having quite a few albums containing music of that sort, mostly movie soundtracks... (go figure.) Third, I'm not a graphic novel/comic book geek. At all.
REPO! has it all, and for some bizarre reason I'm hooked.
I don't suppose it hurts that I've always had a sort of geeky thing for Anthony Stewart Head... or that the man playing the Graverobber is excessively hawt in a gothy way AND does things with his voice that make my innards quiver...
Okay, some of you are probably still going, "WTF? Where on earth did she hear about this movie?" Heh... Comic-Con. Yeah, the non-comic-geek went to Con this year. Well, worked hospitality, and thereby wound up with a pass and got into some of the panels and stuff. I honestly don't recall how we wound up in the Repo! preview panel. Might have been what was running before the Dr. Horrible full-play... I'm sure one of my loves will refresh my memory. Tony was definitely the hook, and the story seemed a bit intriguing... Music was rough on my ears, but I guessed we'd be looking out for it anyway, and I would likely go with my family.
Then, a month or so ago, I discovered that the soundtrack was available for download from the official REPO! site. Naturally, I passed word along, and downloaded it. Not that I listened to it myself... I started to, and just wasn't getting into it, especially as I didn't have the time to just sit and absorb it with lyric sheets in hand. I needed a visual reference, or the time to sit down with it; the latter was not going to happen. So it languished on my computer until this week.
Found out from the official site that the theatrical release was going to be RIDICULOUSLY limited, and that the only two theatres anywhere close were L.A. and Pasadena, both art-house theatres owned by the same company. Um... okay. Then heard a rumour that it was only booked for a WEEK, and would be going away after that unless the response was terrific. Well, hell. So I set about trying to coordinate all six of my dear ones' schedules so we could go see it en masse. Right. That didn't happen. Finally gave up and got tickets for two of us to go Saturday night. And then found out later that week that my husband and the two girls got tickets to the showing just before ours at the same theatre. *snort*
Come last Saturday night... I had no idea what to expect. I figured the theatre would be PACKED with rabid comic/graphic novel/sci-fi/goth/punk/Rocky fans, all having traveled from miles around to see this phenomenon in its debut. After all, the Con response had been amazing. There were fewer than 30 people in the audience for a 7:50 PM showing on a Saturday. *thud* The director AND one of the writers were there, and they gave a little speech before the movie started. Basically, a plea to talk about the movie, blog about it, review it online, etc. because they didn't have much advertising, and no trailers in front of other movies, so the only way the word was going to get out was us... all less-than-thirty of us... (some of whom were members of the L.A. stage production.) They said some people were calling it the Best movie of the year, some the Worst; they didn't care how we felt about it, just that we DID feel something about it, and to PLEASE TALK about it. Um... Okay, sure. (Was rather bummed that they didn't stick around to talk to people after the show. Alas.)
So, the movie itself... Is a whole lot of wow. And a WHOLE lot of Karo syrup! And very definitely operatic in its story style; melodramatic and over the top, but without being campy. I've been trying to come up with a likening for it, and the closest I've gotten is "Jesus Christ Superstar" (rock opera) meets "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (quasi-futuristic/fetishist) meets "Judge Dredd" (futuristic legal vigilante) meets "House of 1000 Corpses" (the most disgustingly gory film I've seen. There's probably something more appropos, but not in MY experience.)
Story concept: It's sometime in the not-too-distant future (still 21st century.) As industrialization and technology spread, something goes horribly wrong with nature, and people start dying by the millions due to internal organ failure. The only way to survive is to get a replacement, but with so many dead and dying, they're in scarce supply. Until Rotti Largo, the owner of GeneCo, comes up with a way to grow/harvest and provide healthy organs... for a price, naturally. And the price of life is high, but if you can't afford it up front, GeneCo will gladly finance your organ(s) for you. Don't fall behind on your payments, though, because after 90 days delinquency, the Repo Man will come and take back GeneCo's property, with no provision for your survival... Yeah, it's legal.
Nathan Wallace is the Repo Man. He's also father to Shilo Wallace, a 17-year-old girl whom he has managed to keep sheltered from this horrific world because she has the same blood disease that killed her mother... Sort of. Shilo thinks her dad is a doctor; she knows nothing of his true profession. In typical teenage rebellious fashion, she just wants to get outside, and spends her time sneaking out of the house and collecting insects. On one excursion, she gets trapped outside and meets the Graverobber.
Graverobber is rather like Che in "Evita"; he's the conscience of this world and the narrator for the story. He's also a peddler of an illegal street version of Zydrate, the drug developed by GeneCo to help patients deal with the pain of surgery and recovery. He supplies this to Z addicts and "surgery sluts," like Rotti Largo's daughter, Amber Sweet.
Amber and her two brothers, Luigi and Pavi, are Rotti Largo's progeny and his shame. At the beginning of the movie, we find out that Rotti is dying, despite everything his company can do. For the rest of the movie, the siblings squabble over inheriting GeneCo, while Rotti plots how to be as nastily vengeful to everyone in the entire thing as possible... How to leave "those vultures" nothing, leaving GeneCo to Shilo, but only after using her father to kill her godmother, and her to kill her father... Yeah; bitter, party of Rotti.
Luigi has absolutely NO redeeming qualities whatsoever. I've TRIED to think of something, but his character wholly repulses me. I can almost pity Amber for her addiction. Pavi is disturbing, but not as horrifically dangerous as Luigi, and he's almost comical at times.
Blind Mag is an interesting character and useful in the plot twists. Sort of like Buttercup in "Pirates of Penzance." Rotti 'owns' her, she's Shilo's godmother, was Marni's (Nathan's wife/Shilo's mom/Rotti's lost love) best friend... She pays for her electronic corneas with her service, and when she finally decides she's had enough and wants to quit, Rotti sics the Repo Man on her. Only Nathan can't do it, because she was Marni's best friend.
There are a couple of points in the movie when we get to see Nathan transform into the Repo Man. Yes, it's very Jekyll and Hyde, and VERY well done. I'm personally of the opinion that the switch is almost a defense mechanism, though it's clearly made by choice. Nathan couldn't do those things, but he knows he has to, so he chooses to change utterly... and the Repo Man REVELS in what he does. Two words: Meat Puppet. If you see the film, you'll know what I mean. *twitch*
There are plot holes galore, and a lot of scene/set design that leaves a lot to be desired when you really think about it*, and a TON of questions left unanswered... but not in the way that screams "sequel set-up!" The cinematography is very good, and makes it easy to suspend disbelief while you're watching. The music is... different, and all over the map. There are songs in the soundtrack that don't show up in the movie that (now that I'm listening to it) bring up other questions and prompt speculation. The soundtrack is in a different order than the movie tracks, so those who've been listening to the soundtrack are having to readjust to the movie, while I find myself rearranging the tracks as I'm listening to match the visual references I now have. (And I'm annoyed that the Graverobber's final song from the movie is NOT included on the soundtrack.)
The acting is, overall, very good. Anthony Head was brilliant; I should not gush any further on that. Paris Hilton surprised me, but then again she was very aptly suited to the character she played. Paul Sorvino wore on the nerves a little bit from time to time, but he played the part to the letter, and convincingly. Very interesting and spot-on casting of Sarah Brightman as Mag. Alexa Vega did a good job as the gothy, teenage, angsty, sickly shut-in and pawn-turned-heroine.
Alright, it's 6:30 and I've been at this long enough. Time to go home. I STRONGLY recommend this movie to anyone intrigued by any of the above listed genres, but I WARN YOU: it's a wild and overwhelming mash-up of them all, so you may hate it or you may love it, or it may take a while to grow on you. I'm in that last category, and am honestly surprised by it. Stretching my limits, I suppose... but don't ask me to go see any of the Saw movies, thanks.
PS: If you can't deal with the sight of blood, DO NOT GO. That is all. *grin*
PPS: I know there are ideas about the film I've forgotten to post here... Hopefully I'll have the presence of mind to add them later on.
*Having recalled the origins of this particular project, (i.e. small black-box theatre settings,) I totally understand the minimalism of some of the sets now, particularly the medical-application settings. Totally forgiven. I've worked in those conditions myself.