Empire's Repo Men Movie Review

Repo Men
It’s Operation: The Movie

Plot
Remi (Law) is a repo man working for faceless corporation The Union, collecting artificial organs — ArtifOrgs — from struggling creditors. But when a mishap on the job leaves him with an ArtifOrg of his own, Remi finds the full force of the company and old partner Jake (Whitaker) comes raining down...

Review

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This high-concept sci-fi looked like the year’s most perfectly timed release. What better moment to hit cinemas with a satire on greedy medical corporations than the weekend Obama pushed his healthcare reforms through Congress? And when better to take a scalpel to modern debt culture than the year we felt credit really start to crunch?

Except, well, not so much. A dismal $6 million opening weekend in the US was proof that surfing the zeitgeist doesn’t always pay. Yet for the first half hour, there’s plenty to resonate with audiences. The premise is simple. Medical corporation The Union farms out new organs to the frail or aspirational at eye-watering rates of interest. Cue repo men Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) dispatched by Liev Schreiber’s exec to slice and dice their way around the unnamed city, retrieving the chrome organs from defaulting schmoes.

The repossessions are played for every drop of gory, black humour as Remy and Jake pull organs from chests with blank-eyed glee, but what could be a potent sci-fi allegory for living beyond our means degenerates into brainless action fodder, as an accident — and an artificial heart of his own — puts Remy on the run from his employers.

Despite Law’s efforts to imbue him with conviction, Remy’s road to redemption plays like The Island meets Crank 2. A series of blood-splattered fight scenes leads to some inspired moments — one of the face-offs, a demented homage to Old Boy, offers the sight of Alfie going about a gang of company suits with a hammer and a hacksaw — but every punch thrown moves the film further from black satire and closer to uninspired genre piece.

Proof? Well, there’s the thin back story provided by Remy’s ex-wife (an underused Carice van Houten), and obligatory love interest (Alice Braga’s doe-eyed junkie, a patchwork quilt of ArtifOrgs herself), but while Forest Whitaker’s conflicted thug brings languid menace, there’s little to up the tension. And among all the film’s icky incisions, there’s a feeling a better movie is lying on the cutting room floor.

Verdict

Reviewed by Phil de Semlyen

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Repo Men

Good
I really enjoyed this film but some scenes are unberable to watch and they didn't have to make it a bad ending ... More


Posted by the film man at 16:56, 05 March 2011 \| Report This Post



An Aquired Taste
I loved this film. It's extremely violent but that just reminded me of Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi classics Robocop and Total Recall (the latter of which is clearly referenced in the final act). The 1st act is shot like a guy richie movie & creates a nice blase tone. The 2nd act brings the film & character into perspective but the shift in tone feels organic. I loved the final act & the ending. It's an opinion divider in the extreme. Watch it ... More


Posted by bnicholson50 at 23:59, 05 November 2010 \| Report This Post




Average. ... More


Posted by reminn at 11:47, 03 November 2010 \| Report This Post



Monty Python did it better
Could a society capable of producing the triumph of synthic organs simultaneuously tolerate legalised butchery and bounty hunting? For me it never worked. The whole premise of the film was shot from the conception stage. The redemption stuff is half arsed (writing his musings in a crumbling tower block with his cyborg girlfriend watching .. sigh) They tried to make the film run on an engine of gore but seeing the repo men rummaging around in someone's guts for a chromed kidney gets old pretty qu... More


Posted by bland man at 23:03, 26 August 2010 \| Report This Post



Spoiler alert
This wasn't the greatest film (though it was worth watching at least once), but I'm still terribly vexed that Empire's DVD review saw fit to essentially give away the ending by saying it borrowed from Gilliam. I mean, it's pretty obvious that they wouldn't be swiping anything from The Brothers Grimm. As soon as I read the review, I knew it was going to go down a Brazil road, and that undercut my enjoyment. Just because you think something merits less than three stars doesn't mean it's ok to give... More


Posted by GigoloJoe at 01:45, 23 August 2010 \| Report This Post



Great Film But Didn't Like The Ending.
I really enjoyed Repo Men up to a point, the ending was a bit cruel and not needed to be left like that. But otherwise, it was thrilling and very blood-thirsty. Jude Law is back to his best here, he really kicks ass and does a great job, well done to him. Forest Whittaker is also on top form as Law's friend. One to check out. ... More


Posted by joanna likes films at 14:07, 09 August 2010 \| Report This Post



You have an organ donor card don't you sir?
Until I saw the "based on the book" bit in the credits I thought this movie was based on the Monty Python sketch "Live Organ transplants", and so was highly amused to see a clip of that sketch on a tv that the 2 stars were watching. Still loved the movie though, and though I thought that the twist ending was a bit unnecessary it did answer a question I had about how Jude Law survived that whack to the head. Still, while the movie was never really much more than an enjoy... More


Posted by bobsuncorp at 01:03, 15 July 2010 \| Report This Post



RE:
Saw this the other day and found it very enjoyable. While it doesnt offer anything new, and does plod a little in its mid-section, what elevates it is a strong turn by Jude Law who pulls off the action man role superbly, and his inter-play with Forest Whitticker who's always value for money. Not as action packed as it should/could be - and they do miss a trick that could've turned the film into an exciting Minority Report-style chase movie. They go for the character angle of Law's ch... More


Posted by kenada_woo at 22:38, 25 May 2010 \| Report This Post




I have been left confused by the ending, at what point during the film did he end up with his brain wired? It was as though they rewound it - weird ending. Does anyone else understand what the ending was all about? Bizarre, it was almost like an afterthought which ended up not making any sense whatsoever. Why do that and then have them just earlier cancelling their organs and blowing up the computer if that never happened? Very strange. ... More


Posted by ploppyx at 11:22, 10 May 2010 \| Report This Post



Strangely similar to...
Repo: The Genetic Opera. Which had the added bonuses of being a musical, Anthony Stewart Head and Paris Hilton's face falling off. ... More


Posted by uawcat at 13:14, 18 April 2010 \| Report This Post



RE: Repo men
Switch your brain off for a while, and Repo Men is an entertaining enough film. The action sequences are enjoyably kinetic and violent, and the performances are fine. The main problem I had with Repo Men was the lack of originality. The premise is very much like Repo! The Genetic Opera. There are elements of several 1980s 'technophobic' films, such as Blade Runner and Brazil. Which is fine, except these earlier films are infinitely superior. For my full review please click link below! ... More

Posted by iheartthetalkies at 11:29, 18 April 2010 \| Report This Post



Repo men
I thought I was an enjoyable film, delivered exactly what I expected and no more, just an uncomplicated action movie with some good set pieces, the Old Boy-esque corridor scene was great. Jude did well in this film after this and Sherlock Holmes I'm liking him a lot more. I enjoyed this a whole heap more than Clash of the Titans ... More


Posted by durelius at 17:56, 17 April 2010 \| Report This Post



This film needs repossessing!
Ok first off this film sounded like a clever concept until you watch it. Jude Law just isn't right in the role and neither is Forest Whittaker. Totally miscasted. Liev Schreider was the only one who did a good job and even then it wasnt much of a stretch for him. The plot was predictable and I didn't really feel sorry for Jude law's character. The ending was also very laughable and Jude needs to stick to what he does best and stay away from action scifi or at least not in the lead. Forest Whitta... More


Posted by richiebrum1974 at 15:07, 17 April 2010 \| Report This Post



RE: Yeah but....
I'm with Empire on this one. There's a good film in there somewhere, but I'll be darned if I can find it! It starts off quite well with an interesting premise, some fun gory black comedy and decent enough acting but as soon as it gets to the Minority Report-style "man on the run" bits, things start going downhill. Jude Law is just not convincing as a hard man, the Guy Ritchie-esque style of the film is all wrong for the story and feels forced and intrusive when i... More


Posted by Edward Nygma at 13:56, 17 April 2010 \| Report This Post



Yeah but....
It was still a fairly enjoyable flick though, a genre flick as it maybe. I get what you mean about their probably being a better movie on the cutting room floor (which hopefully we'll get to see that when the DVD gets released) but i don't think that's a valid enough reason for only 2 stars. I would personally give it 3 stars as it still ticks all the boxes as far as a decent sci-fi -actioner goes. .......and Jude Law doesn't make a bad action star - who'd of thunk it!! ... More


Posted by lukeyboy at 14:46, 13 April 2010 \| Report This Post



Yeah but....
It was still a fairly enjoyable flick though, a genre flick as it maybe. I get what you mean about their probably being a better movie on the cutting room floor (which hopefully we'll get to see that when the DVD gets released) but i don't think that's a valid enough reason for only 2 stars. I would personally give it 3 stars as it still ticks all the boxes as far as a decent sci-fi -actioner goes. .......and Jude Law doesn't make a bad action star - who'd of thunk it!! ... More


Posted by lukeyboy at 14:46, 13 April 2010 \| Report This Post

Repo MenIt’s Operation: The Movie

Repo Men
It’s Operation: The Movie