I'd actually been really excited to see this movie, since it seems like the sort of bizarre thing I'd be into. I mean, I like musicals, I like mucho stylization, and I love Anthony Stewart Head. And although I've never seen a Saw movie (I'm very squeamish in regards to blood and gore), I was interested in the idea of Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the last 3 or so Saw movies, doing a weird-ass musical.
The basic premise is thus: It's the Future and there's been a massive epidemic of organ failures. Thus, a company called GeneCo arises and sells people organs...for a price. If you're late or fail to make a payment on an organ, GeneCo sends out its Repo Man to "repossess" it. The film partially concerns Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino, suitably slimey), the president of GeneCo, who is dying and has to choose who will inherit his company. His choices among his own offspring are limited. There's Luigi (Bill Moseley) who is dumb and angry and stabs anyone who pisses him off. There's also Pavi (played by Ogre, of the band Skinny Puppy), who wears women's faces. Literally I mean. It's kind of creepy. Strangely enough, women flock to him. And lastly, there's his daughter Amber Sweet, played by Paris Hilton. Paris proves herself relatively capable in this role, surprisingly enough, but then again her character is a stuck up rich bitch who's addicted to plastic surgery, so it's not much of a stretch. Since his own children are all useless, Rotti Largo takes an interest in Shilo (Alexa Vega, of Spy Kids fame), the daughter of Nathan, the Repo Man (Anthony Stewart Head, easily the best thing in this movie). To go on to the other main plotline - Shilo allegedly has a blood disease, inherited from her late mother, and is not allowed outside by her overprotective father. Also, she's doesn't know he's the Repo Man and that he goes out everynight killing people and taking out their organs. Sarah Brightman also makes an appearance as Bling Mag, the star of the GeneCo opera.
This movie has a really interesting, unique premise and is highly stylized. There's little actual spoken dialogue, nearly everything is sung. Everything, everything is terribly excessive - the violence, the music, the drama, the overall look of the film, etc. There's many sideplots, such as the whole situation with Blind Mag, the whole Zydrate/Graverobber thing (don't ask, I was a bit confused by it all), and Rotti and Nathan's complicated past. There's just so much here and it's just not very well done. I'm a bit disappointed because I think this had great potential to be a really interesting, unique film. Instead it all feels confusing and muddled and haphazardly put together. I read some reviews that said this film was unnecessarily gross, but I wasn't bothered by it. The violence and gore made sense, given the general plotline.
The music, for the most part, is very good and catchy. I did, however, have a problem with the sung "dialogue", which is just boring. I realize that they were trying to make this an "opera" and thus have everything be sung, but most of it's just annoying and uninteresting. The actual "songs" though are quite good and all of the actors pull their own weight, vocally speaking. Anthony Stewart Head is especially adept at switching between Nathan's calm, sweet fatherly persona and the harsher, more sinister growling rock voice of the Repo Man. The soundtrack gets an added boost from the vocal prescence of Sarah Brightman. Alexa Vega also has a surprisingly good voice, portraying every bit the angst-filled, tempestuous teenager. The complicated relationship between her and her father is genuinely touching.
Overall, this movie is a mixed bag. I would say it is worth a gander, if you're into this sort of thing (and not of a weak constitution). It's a fantastic premise, interesting characters, and a good soundtrack. However, it's rather poorly executed. If they had taken some extra time to flesh things out and smooth out the rough edges, it could've been rather good. Instead it's confusing and a bit underwhelming.
Grade: C
The basic premise is thus: It's the Future and there's been a massive epidemic of organ failures. Thus, a company called GeneCo arises and sells people organs...for a price. If you're late or fail to make a payment on an organ, GeneCo sends out its Repo Man to "repossess" it. The film partially concerns Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino, suitably slimey), the president of GeneCo, who is dying and has to choose who will inherit his company. His choices among his own offspring are limited. There's Luigi (Bill Moseley) who is dumb and angry and stabs anyone who pisses him off. There's also Pavi (played by Ogre, of the band Skinny Puppy), who wears women's faces. Literally I mean. It's kind of creepy. Strangely enough, women flock to him. And lastly, there's his daughter Amber Sweet, played by Paris Hilton. Paris proves herself relatively capable in this role, surprisingly enough, but then again her character is a stuck up rich bitch who's addicted to plastic surgery, so it's not much of a stretch. Since his own children are all useless, Rotti Largo takes an interest in Shilo (Alexa Vega, of Spy Kids fame), the daughter of Nathan, the Repo Man (Anthony Stewart Head, easily the best thing in this movie). To go on to the other main plotline - Shilo allegedly has a blood disease, inherited from her late mother, and is not allowed outside by her overprotective father. Also, she's doesn't know he's the Repo Man and that he goes out everynight killing people and taking out their organs. Sarah Brightman also makes an appearance as Bling Mag, the star of the GeneCo opera.
This movie has a really interesting, unique premise and is highly stylized. There's little actual spoken dialogue, nearly everything is sung. Everything, everything is terribly excessive - the violence, the music, the drama, the overall look of the film, etc. There's many sideplots, such as the whole situation with Blind Mag, the whole Zydrate/Graverobber thing (don't ask, I was a bit confused by it all), and Rotti and Nathan's complicated past. There's just so much here and it's just not very well done. I'm a bit disappointed because I think this had great potential to be a really interesting, unique film. Instead it all feels confusing and muddled and haphazardly put together. I read some reviews that said this film was unnecessarily gross, but I wasn't bothered by it. The violence and gore made sense, given the general plotline.
The music, for the most part, is very good and catchy. I did, however, have a problem with the sung "dialogue", which is just boring. I realize that they were trying to make this an "opera" and thus have everything be sung, but most of it's just annoying and uninteresting. The actual "songs" though are quite good and all of the actors pull their own weight, vocally speaking. Anthony Stewart Head is especially adept at switching between Nathan's calm, sweet fatherly persona and the harsher, more sinister growling rock voice of the Repo Man. The soundtrack gets an added boost from the vocal prescence of Sarah Brightman. Alexa Vega also has a surprisingly good voice, portraying every bit the angst-filled, tempestuous teenager. The complicated relationship between her and her father is genuinely touching.
Overall, this movie is a mixed bag. I would say it is worth a gander, if you're into this sort of thing (and not of a weak constitution). It's a fantastic premise, interesting characters, and a good soundtrack. However, it's rather poorly executed. If they had taken some extra time to flesh things out and smooth out the rough edges, it could've been rather good. Instead it's confusing and a bit underwhelming.
Grade: C
You can watch the trailer here
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