Film Review: REPO MEN (2010) - 2nd Viewing

Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Running time: 111 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Sci-Fi/Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 16th April 2010

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 1st March 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I first saw this one when it was released in the cinema. I quite liked it and thought it worthy of a second viewing when it came up on TV this week. Quite futuristic with certain visuals that are very remenicant of Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic, Blade Runner, although it’s nothing like Blade Runner (unfortunately). Here is a brief summary before I give you my thoughts on the film (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please reclain that man’s pancreas while I write the next paragraph).

It is the near future where medicine has advanced enough that human organs can be replaced with artificial ones. One company ‘The Union’ controls the world market and as such can dictate the price. It is so high that most people opt to pay in installments. But if you miss three payments then the Repo Men will call and surgically remove The Union’s property. Remy and Jake grew up together, they joined the army together and when the war was over they became Repo Men together. Their boss is Frank, who is only concerned with the retrieval of The Union’s property, no matter how it’s done. Remy is married to Carol and has a son, Peter but Jake stayed single. Carol doesn’t like Remy’s line of work and wants him to move into sales. The two guys carry on with their work, which eventually becomes too much for Carol and she leaves Remy. Soon after Remy suffers an accident that leads to him having an artificial heart installed. He now gets a conscience and finds it hard to get back into the Repo business. He tries sales, but that’s not for him. Eventually he falls behind on his payments and becomes overdue. He goes off the grid and goes to live rough with others whose repayments have lapsed. There he meets Beth, a singer who has had many illegal artificial organs fitted. The pair decide to try and get their records erased when Jake is assigned to recover Remy’s organs. I won’t say any more, don’t want to give too much away.

It’s a pretty well made film although there is a lot of violence and it is very gory, not recommended for those of a nervous disposition. Decent performances from all of the leading cast, honourable mentions go to Jude Law as Remy, Forest Whitaker as Jake, Alice Braga as Beth, Liev Schreiber excellent as the very slimy Frank, Carice van Houten as Carol and Chandler Canterbury as Peter.

I pretty much enjoyed this film but I found it didn’t quite hit the mark. There is a very nice twist at the end which I did enjoy, but over all it kind of left me a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite entertaining and there are some good performances, I just felt the plot could have done with a little more refining. So, over all, violent, gory, futuristic, entertaining but the plot needed a little work. Having said that, it’s still recommended.

My score: 6.3/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1053424/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012068-repo_men/
Official Site: http://www.repomenarecoming.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi3661497369/