FILM REVIEW: Repo Men

Posted by: Tony – Mar 21, 2010

There is apparently some controversy over Repo Men, the new sci-fi action movie starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. It has the identical premise as a film that came out last year entitled Repo! The Genetic Opera. That film was excellent so long as you are able to ignore the presence of Paris Hilton, and I was all set rant about this new film for being a knock off. It turns out to be unnecessary, though. The two films share a basic premise, but the actual plots that unravel over each film are completely different. It may be in poor taste to lift a premise from a lesser known film, but at least he filmmakers behind Repo Men spun it in a different direction. Hollywood has done much worse in the past (Watch The Island directed by Michael Bay, then look up an old B-movie called Parts: The Clonus Horror), so we may be able to forgive this latest example as coincidence.

Repo Men, like so many sci-fi thrillers, is set in the not too distant future. Medical science has succeeded in creating fully functional artificial organs. Organ donor waiting lists are a thing of the past. If you need a liver, there is a factory full of artificial livers waiting for you. All you have to do is pay for it. That is the catch. The organs cost several hundred thousand dollars a piece, and they do not seem to be covered by anyone’s health insurance. I guess healthcare reform does not pass. The Union, the company behind the entire operation understands that people cannot afford to pay for these miracle machines, so they offer monthly payment plans. It is best not to fall more than three months behind your bills, though. At that point, the Union sends a repo man to cut you open and take back company property. The repo men do not kill, mind you, they just leave the “clients” unconscious on the ground without any lungs. If someone dies after that, it is because of their preexisting condition.

Not everyone is cut out to be a repo man, but old friends Remy and Jake (Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, respectively) excel at it. Jake reasons that society could not function if no one enforced the rules, and Remy just tells himself that a job is a job and he needs to work to support his family. This rationalization becomes less effective for Remy when an accident on the job leaves him with an artificial heart. He suddenly finds himself unable to cut people open and leave them to certain death. Unfortunately, this means he must stop working, and without a source of income he quickly falls behind on his payments. You would think a company called the Union would have better employee benefits. Maybe a discount or lower interest rates? In three months time, Remy finds himself hunted by none other than his old friend Jake.

If you knew Remy and Jake would wind up battling each other as soon as I stated that they were old friends, then you more or less can predict how the movie unfolds. Despite a clever surprise at the end, the film pretty much stays on the action movie formula. Remy goes on the run, he rescues a woman who is in a similar situation, and the two of them fall in love and fight the bad guys together. This film is about the action, though, and in that regard it is certainly exciting. It has all the slick over-the-top violence the trailers promise, so if that is your thing, you will have a lot of fun. In one extended fight sequence, Remy kills about a dozen armed Union men with knives, hammers, and even a hacksaw. The audience with which I saw the film erupted in cheers with every new weapon. I waited until everyone had left before walking through the parking lot to my car.

Unfortunate though it may be, it is not uncommon for Hollywood to rip off a premise from a smaller movie and turn it into something else. Do not let internet controversies keep you away from Repo Men if you are looking for a bloody violent action movie. This film is just dumb fun, and this is the perfect time of the year for it to be released. This would not have cut it as a Summer blockbuster, but it works great as a Springtime appetizer. The real big budget excitement starts up again in a few weeks. Repo Men can hold us over until then.