Repo Men

This film has got to be the sci-fi sleeper of the year. When I first saw the trailers for Repo Men, I wasn’t too interested in seeing it. I can't recall why, but it just didn’t catch my attention. After it was recently recommended to me, and I actually sat down and watched it, I have to say this is one of the better movies I’ve ever seen. Not only did I watch it once, I had to go back and watch again after being totally thrown for a loop by the twist at the end.

The film is set in the not too distant future 2025 to be exact. The narrative at the beginning talks about the collapsing economy and is a haunting reminder of our current economic crisis. If you’re looking to escape from the worries of financial doom and gloom, this isn’t the film. It also tends to be quite graphic and gory. This definitely is not a film for younger kids.

When I first started watching the film, I kept comparing it to Logan’s Run. There, people did not want to die or participate in “Carousel” to supposedly prolong their lives past the age of 30. They “ran” to be free of the system to live out their natural lives. In Repo Men artificial organs (“artiforgs”) seem to be the “Carousel” of that time period allowing them to live out a longer life. But due to economic conditions that hope is false and temporary. More than likely they will end up not being able to pay for the organs. After three months of non-payment “The Union” sends the Repo Man, who forcibly repossesses the organs, which usually results in the customer’s “termination”. The Repo Men are not unlike the Sandmen in Logan’s Run. Chasing down “debtors” or “runners” and ending their lives. It’s similar even to the point that partners and best friends are turned against one another by “the system” as their buddy “runs” for their life. Both films have cool guns that set them apart from the norm. That is where the similarities end.

The film stars Jude Law as Remy and Forest Whitaker as Jake. Whitaker is one of those actors that totally immerses himself in whatever character he plays. He makes them come alive and appear as though they could exist in real life. He can actually make a mediocre film (Vantage Point) bearable when he's on screen. The thing I find so amazing about this movie is that it isn’t predictable. I was in no way bored and couldn't speculate on how the story was going to end. Several key clues are literally thrown smack in your face and I didn’t realize them for what they were.

Cinematically speaking there is an incredibly vivid scene where Remy and Beth (Alice Braga) enter a totally white clean room where the “artiforgs” are created. The room is huge and houses rows and rows of workers all dressed in white bio-hazard suits. Remy and Beth are dressed in black. The contrast is astounding as armed guards also dressed in black enter the room. It’s like an invasion of a virulent disease into otherwise healthy tissue.

I think one of the key questions in this movie is the one that Remy asks, referring to the cat in the box experiment, which is detailed in the opening of the film: "How can anything be alive and dead at the same time?" You’ll get your answer.

There is only one quirky scene in the film that I take exception with. It is a beautifully choreographed sequence, but I am forced to ask two questions:

1. Why bring a knife to knife fight when you have gun?

2. Why not pick up another gun when your gun runs out of ammo and the hallway is littered with guns from fallen guards?

But aside from that, Repo Men is a fantastic movie that I highly recommend. For its unpredictability; for totally throwing me off guard even with obvious clues right in my face, and for innovation that sets this film apart from others, I must give this movie 5 out of 5 fingers.