Some of you may have heard about Jude Law’s upcoming movie Repo Men (or as it may have originally been titled, Repossession Mambo). For those who haven’t, here’s the deal:
A company can replace your organs if they’re failing. And they’ll do it on a payment plan. However, if you stop making payments, the organ(s) can be repossessed.
Neat film for sci-fi/horror geeks, right?
Yeah, it’d be even better if it wasn’t a blatant ripoff of an extremely good musical film which sadly went almost straight to video.
I understand that original ideas are hard to come by and all that, but nothing irritates me more when a better-quality original is overlooked because the “new” product is more well-known. Even worse, there are plenty of instances in which the original is later seen as the rip-off. For a good example from the music industry, see also: Mushroomhead vs. Slipknot, which is quite the beehive to poke with a stick and an extremely polarizing subject among fans.
Consider this a public service announcement, folks: Repo Men is just a big-budget version of Repo! The Genetic Opera. Repo! is fantastic. It’s been described as “a Rocky Horror meets Blade Runner rock opera/movie musical.” Now, I personally hate Rocky Horror, but I adore the Genetic Opera. It also has the same amazing vocalist as the 5th Element, where she made her brief appearance as a blue opera singer. I don’t want to give away the plot because this film is definitely one you should go see for yourself, but “Repo man goes around killing people and taking organs” doesn’t begin to describe what’s going on.
Other facts about Repo!
-It’s based on a play (The Necromerchant’s Debt) written by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunch, the latter of whom plays the part of the narrator in the film.
-Technically, it was released in theaters. Seven theaters, to be exact. The DVD was released January 20, 2009.
-Repo! holds the record for most songs composed into a single film, though some were cut from the DVD release.
-Joan Jett has a cameo appearance.
-Paris Hilton does not make me want to throw things at the screen in this film. I promise. As unbelievable as the idea may seem.
Lionsgate, despite throwing tons of money at plenty of other projects, many also strange and experimental, essentially ignored promoting the film whatsoever. It’s sad – Lionsgate really made a name for itself in taking chances on works such as Repo! The Genetic Opera.
The Genetic Opera’s storyline is interesting, and the songs are entertaining. Visually, it’s quite intriguing as well. It introduces a plethora of potential problems stemming from GeneCo, the company behind the organs as well as the repo men. For example, those who can afford it often become addicted to surgery much in the same way that plastic surgery addiction is an issue today…but it’s on a much larger and more dangerous scale. Many people become addicted to Zydrate, a drug used during these surgeries. Society’s ideals concerning beauty have changed entirely – the male character who is considered extremely vain and quite good-looking is…well, shall we say, very special in the appearance department. All around, the society it creates is fascinating, and I doubt Repo! Sans Opera Repo Men can really capture the atmosphere that makes Repo! so unique.
If only the people behind Repo! The Genetic Opera could repo! their freaking idea from Hollywood until the Genetic Opera receives the attention it deserves.
Oh, if only.
3 Comments
Agreed! Repo! is such a fantastic little film, it’s a shame there wasn’t more awareness of it when it came out (though evidently there was enough awareness for someone to go ‘this would be a GREAT idea if we Hollywoodized it a bit!).
I for one won’t be bothering with the ripoff as having seen the trailer it just looked a bit like Equilibrium with organs, and that’s just not as interesting a story as Repo!.