Monday, June 29, 2009

Monday's Movie Review: Repo! The Genetic Opera

I've been watching a little bit more obscure movies lately that I generally take interest in. My most recent find is a movie that I saw the preview for last year and only half-heartedly decided that it might be something I could be interested in. I am a little disappointed that I waited so long to check it out. I LOVED this movie.

...Perhaps that's not the most honest comment I've made recently. Let me clarify: While watching Repo! I found myself feeling a little odd. It made me feel kind of uncomfortable, as the entire movie is in song. (Perhaps that's why they call it an opera?) Don't get me wrong, I was entertained, but my thought while first watching it was more along the lines of, "This is just alright."

But after watching it I couldn't get the story out of my mind. Sometime over the next 50 years an epidemic of organ failures cripples the globe. A company called GeneCo emerges with a line of organs that can be transplanted on finance. But if you miss your payment, they will send the RepoMan to come and get their product back. The story follows Shilo (played by Alexa Vega), a 17 year-old girl who has a blood disease and is unable to venture in the outside world. She meet characters such as Graverobber (Terrance Zdunich), a man who is just what his name describes. There is a highly addictive painkiller called Zydrate that is given to help with surgery - and there is a street version of it that can be extracted from dead bodies. She also meets the family who owns GeneCo: the Largos. Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), the father and owner of the company has a connection to Shilo's family and an agenda of his own. Rotti has also got three kids: Luigi Largo (Bill Moseley), a murderer driven by anger; Pavi Largo (Nivek Ogre), a rapist who is obsessed with wearing womens' faces; and Amber Sweet (Paris Hilton), a woman who is addicted to surgery. Other characters involved are Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), who is the voice of GeneCo; and of course the RepoMan (Anthony Head) who just so happens to be the single father of Shilo.

The more I thought about this movie the more it grew on me. I borrowed it from the friend who suggested I watch it and viewed it a few more times, liking it each more every time I watched it. I let my guard down and began enjoying the songs. I watched it a few more times, as I kept noticing new things each time.

Overall, I give this move 4 out of 5 stars, but not 5 only because of my own discomfort in the beginning. Definitely watch this movie, give it a day, then watch it again.