Sunday, September 20, 2009
Critical Thinking: "REPO! The Genetic Opera"
Ok, let's do this:
I really enjoyed REPO, which, to my surprise, was actually a really good musical. It starts off with a series of comic book panels introducing the plot (the art direction is really brilliant: the vivid colors contrasted by chiaroscuro lighting techniques establish this corrupt, dystopian world of 2056) followed by a short introductory song explaining the Repo Man by a reoccurring character, the grave robber. The grave robber seems almost omnipresent, popping up at just the right times to narrate and add commentary to the plot, all the while remaining uninterested in the events unfolding around him, like a futuristic Puck... not to mention he gets some of the best songs! The singing all around is fabulous, the actors did a great job in that respect! The plot is interesting, and does a good job examining the relationships between all the different characters... although I really wish they could have elaborated on Mag a little bit more. Still, the father/daughter story, the CEO of GeneCo's dilemma, the quarrel between Rotti and Nathan over Marni's love and murder, and of course between Mag and Rotti all give the musical an almost Shakespearean feel to it. The formula feels familiar, what with all the intertwining, sometimes comedic interactions between characters all equating to the same theme, but the addition of futuristic special effects, a dark, sci-fi world and gruesome gore and makeup effects lend the film a fresh twist.
There isn't much more I can say about the movie except that I loved it! It was well done, held my attention, and made me really think about the future of mankind and the society that we've established (as any good sci-fi movie that isn't Star Wars should). And I normally hate musicals! There isn't much I didn't like, with the exception of the song "Seventeen" and its implementation in the film... it was just... gross. But it's easily skipped and non-essential, so the mistake isn't too bad!
All in all, I give it an A-
Now what are you waiting for? Go rent a copy, find a friend who has the DVD, look it up on YouTube, do anything to see it!
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Same, I really enjoyed it. The guy who played The dude with the clipped on face (can't remember his name) is an industrial musician known as Nivek Ore famous for his work in Skinny Puppy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I forgot to mention how cool it was that they used industrial-y music throughout! That was SUPER cool, I've never seen a musical make such good use of the genre!
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