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Leon Reviews REPO MEN (Unrated) [Blu-ray]
REPO MEN
Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are best friends and The Union's most dangerous repossession men, reclaiming top-dollar organs when recipients fall behind on their payments. But after an on-the-job accident forces Remy to be outfitted with a top-of-the-line heart replacement, he finds himself in debt and on the run. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted as Jake will stop at nothing to track him down to finish the job.
If I told you I couldn’t stop thinking of another movie while watching REPO MEN you’d probably think I you already knew to which ones I was referring. But no, it bears no resemblance at all to 1984’s REPO MAN and on the advice of a close friend who knows my tastes very well, I avoided seeing REPO!:THE GENETIC OPERA.
Actually, the movie I’m thinking of is INCEPTION.
I know that the comparison is blasphemous to many, with REPO MEN coming down on the losing end of a 65% point difference on RottenTomatoes.com, but it’s not hard to see that they have plenty in common. They’re both sci-fi thrillers that question Reality vs. Perception and borrow heavily form older movies: for INCEPTION it’s THE MATRIX, DREAMSCAPE and DARK CITY; for REPO MEN it’s BLADERUNNER, MINORITY REPORT, OLD BOY, etc. And they both have endings that owe a lot to the movie BRAZIL.
However much the two movies gave me each other’s aftertaste, they are far from identical twins. Personally, the biggest difference was how oppositely I felt about them on a second viewing. Where INCEPTION sacrificed so much character depth in favor of slavishly explaining the mechanics of its proposed world, REPO MEN constructs a premise so full of holes it’s hard to solidly buy into an of it.
REPO MEN tries to sell us on a dystopia with a technologically advanced society that’s so cynical it sanctions murder (via organs being forcibly removed) with the corpses abandoned for someone else to clean up; With nary a hint of how the inevitable involvement of the government, ACLU and an endless parade of lawyers is circumvented. I’d like to pass that off as a small detail- especially since I liked the movie (*downgraded to “didn’t hate the movie” on second viewing)- but it’s what the entire story is built around!
It’s the kind of flimsiness that would be expected in a musical or forgiven in a whacked out dark comedy. But REPO MEN flits back and forth between being a dark comedy to gorey action movie to preachy sci-fi. And while I’m usually the lone critic who likes the hard-to-pin-down hybrid movies, with REPO MEN the thematic indecision and utter lack of originality make for an overall bland product that would be forgettable if not for the better-than-it-deserved performances from Jude Law, Forest Whittaker and Liev Schreiber.
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BLU-RAY EXTRAS
The Blu-ray edition of REPO MEN offers you choice between watching the Unrated version and the Theatrical release (the difference is little more than a pair of exposed breasts), as well as a decent selection of special features:
For all the smack I might talk about REPO MEN as a feature film, it’s almost perfect for the less demanding format of watching it on home video, especially Blu-ray. The transfer is one of the best I’ve seen, and even after you watch the feature dissecting just how the numerous special effects were composited they’re still just as impressive.
You can purchase the Blu-ray of REPO MEN (Unrated) here.
Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are best friends and The Union's most dangerous repossession men, reclaiming top-dollar organs when recipients fall behind on their payments. But after an on-the-job accident forces Remy to be outfitted with a top-of-the-line heart replacement, he finds himself in debt and on the run. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted as Jake will stop at nothing to track him down to finish the job.
If I told you I couldn’t stop thinking of another movie while watching REPO MEN you’d probably think I you already knew to which ones I was referring. But no, it bears no resemblance at all to 1984’s REPO MAN and on the advice of a close friend who knows my tastes very well, I avoided seeing REPO!:THE GENETIC OPERA. Actually, the movie I’m thinking of is INCEPTION.
I know that the comparison is blasphemous to many, with REPO MEN coming down on the losing end of a 65% point difference on RottenTomatoes.com, but it’s not hard to see that they have plenty in common. They’re both sci-fi thrillers that question Reality vs. Perception and borrow heavily form older movies: for INCEPTION it’s THE MATRIX, DREAMSCAPE and DARK CITY; for REPO MEN it’s BLADERUNNER, MINORITY REPORT, OLD BOY, etc. And they both have endings that owe a lot to the movie BRAZIL.
However much the two movies gave me each other’s aftertaste, they are far from identical twins. Personally, the biggest difference was how oppositely I felt about them on a second viewing. Where INCEPTION sacrificed so much character depth in favor of slavishly explaining the mechanics of its proposed world, REPO MEN constructs a premise so full of holes it’s hard to solidly buy into an of it.
REPO MEN tries to sell us on a dystopia with a technologically advanced society that’s so cynical it sanctions murder (via organs being forcibly removed) with the corpses abandoned for someone else to clean up; With nary a hint of how the inevitable involvement of the government, ACLU and an endless parade of lawyers is circumvented. I’d like to pass that off as a small detail- especially since I liked the movie (*downgraded to “didn’t hate the movie” on second viewing)- but it’s what the entire story is built around!
It’s the kind of flimsiness that would be expected in a musical or forgiven in a whacked out dark comedy. But REPO MEN flits back and forth between being a dark comedy to gorey action movie to preachy sci-fi. And while I’m usually the lone critic who likes the hard-to-pin-down hybrid movies, with REPO MEN the thematic indecision and utter lack of originality make for an overall bland product that would be forgettable if not for the better-than-it-deserved performances from Jude Law, Forest Whittaker and Liev Schreiber.
____________________________________________________________________________________
BLU-RAY EXTRAS
The Blu-ray edition of REPO MEN offers you choice between watching the Unrated version and the Theatrical release (the difference is little more than a pair of exposed breasts), as well as a decent selection of special features:
- U-Control Features: A "P-in-P Experience" is a sparse collection of informative interviews with members of the cast and crew An "Artiforg Tech Specs" mode gives descriptions of the artificial organs and prosthetics that appear throughout the film.
- Filmmakers Audio Commentary: This is director Miguel Sapochnik first feature film, and while he may not have an original bone in his body, he does appear to possess some raw talent and enthusiasm. He and writers Eric Garcia & Garrett Lerner give extensive commentary on casting, soundtrack selections, the script itself, the actors' contributions to the story, the flick's production design, costumes, visual effects, the development and creation of the future Remy inhabits. Unlike the commentary on most movies, there aren’t many stretches of silence.
- Deleted Scenes: There are five deleted and extended scenes in all, each with optional commentary with Sapochnik, Garcia and Lerner. Like most, these scenes aren’t missed.
- The Union Commercials: Seven fake "Union" commercials. The fact that this much work was done speaks to the fact that where REPO MEN fails it’s due to misguided decisions, not laziness.
- Inside the Visual Effects : A short but effect look at raw-footage-to-final-shot footage with Sapochnik, Garcia and Lerner commentary.
- BD-Live Functionality & News Ticker
- Pocket Blu Handheld Apps
- My Scenes Bookmarking
For all the smack I might talk about REPO MEN as a feature film, it’s almost perfect for the less demanding format of watching it on home video, especially Blu-ray. The transfer is one of the best I’ve seen, and even after you watch the feature dissecting just how the numerous special effects were composited they’re still just as impressive.
You can purchase the Blu-ray of REPO MEN (Unrated) here.
Comment
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Comment by Balzaak on January 23, 2011 at 9:20pm -
I missed this in theaters and instead caught it on a lazy Sunday afternoon as I recovered from an annoying hangover. It must have caught me in the right mood since I thought it was fun. I Definitely wasn't upset I missed it in theaters and I couldn't help but think of Logan's Run, Blade Runner, and Open Your Eyes while watching this flick (don't confuse me with saying that this is anywhere equal or better than those movies). This will probably be one of those flicks I'll be watching whenever I don't have much of anything else going on.
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Comment by Torrey. on August 26, 2010 at 5:44am -
Loved this movie but then the third act falls when they decide to be like "hey lets rip the fuck outta brazil."
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Comment by Úrsus M Tyrannus on August 19, 2010 at 2:08am -
Damn it! Every time. I think "whats this about Repo Man?...wait...oh..." But every single time my eyes see "Repo Men" my brain reads "Repo Man". You'd think by now I'd get it. That damn genetic opera one gets me too sometimes.. And since I'm here and some one else mentioned it, what the heck is it with that Genetic Opera any way? I tried, really I did. Three attempts and I never saw more than 20 minutes. Its like taking several elements I would enjoy but somehow mixed all wrong. Its like chocolate covered salmon served on mac and cheese.
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Comment by Lloyd on August 6, 2010 at 8:39pm -
I agree with what you're saying about Repo Men. But It seems as though you're hell bent on trying to make people notice that you weren't a massive fan of Inception.
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Comment by mjtfreeze on August 6, 2010 at 8:41am -
I enjoyed this movie, but the ending was the killer. I have a love hate relationship with the third act of the film. The concept was very cool though, made me value my health and every functioning part of my body.
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Comment by Mr. Bubbles on August 5, 2010 at 9:02pm -
Leon, you're bound and determined to convince everyone that Inception did nothing but rip off other movies, aren't you? =P
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Comment by Stan on August 5, 2010 at 2:48pm -
I didn't like this movie when I saw it in the theatre, and personally I wouldn't see it again even if hot women were butt naked in every single scene. It just wasn't that good.
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Comment by Hero on August 5, 2010 at 4:31am
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Great review Leon, the movie sounds better than I thought it was, sounds like it's well worth catching on TV, so that's what'll do.
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Comment by Anthony Stark on August 5, 2010 at 3:02am -
@Mattew Your feeble-minded grasp of subjectivity and above all intelligence is incredibly low. Why are you even on here? Shouldn't you be at Christopher Nolan's house licking his shaft and jiggling the testicles. Pray that his juice doesn't land in your eye.
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Comment by Justin V. on August 4, 2010 at 10:42pm -
Really Matthew? You have to admit that Leon has proven himself to be a reviewer that neither conforms to popular opinion nor disagrees with it for the sake of disagreement.
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