Bizarre, risky, oddly fascinating and incredibly entertaining, Repo! is a cult hit in the making and a true theatrical experience in every sense of the word. There's not a lot that can be said to describe it, but it's unlike any movie musical I've ever seen before. A true "opera," not a single word is spoken through the film's 98-minute running time, and a seemingly random cast surprisingly works well together and gives it their all. Alexa Vega and Anthony Stewart Head are the two standouts, both are fantastic here. Also worth mentioning is Terrance Zdunich as Graverobber, the unofficial narrator of the film, who is brilliant and deserved more screentime. Paul Sorvino makes a great villain, and the supporting cast members (including Paris Hilton, who is surprisingly not terrible here and does exactly what the role requires) add a lot to the proceedings as well. Several of the songs are undeniably catchy and there's so much life and energy displayed onscreen that it's hard not to get hypnotized by it. Bousman does a fantastic job with direction considering the limited budget, and crafts some memorable musical sequences in addition to creating an eerie and memorable atmosphere. I've been trying to piece together my thoughts on this film for a while, so I apologize if this sounds a bit jumbled. It's not perfect, but it's so rare to find a film like this that really defies explanation. Many of the supposed flaws I noticed the first time around I've been re-evaluating in my head since I saw it. I definitely want to see it again. A-

Oddly enough, I think Bousman's whole roadshow tour that he's doing to promote this (one night only screenings in many cities that aren't getting it when it's released next week) might be the best thing. This film is going to thrive on buzz and word of mouth, and is definitely not something that should go wide right away. I understand Lionsgate's hesitation. This way, with a lot of positive buzz, I'm sure it will find a devoted audience.

That review is encouraging!

C


So this was Darren Lynn Bousman's passion project? Eh, I certainly expected more. I mean I was always wondering how mixing up hardcore horror and a musical would actually work. Well, it mostly doesn't. You see it tries hard, but at the end it's simply not bizarre enough or otherworldly enough to garner a cult following.

I'm sure there'll be people liking it a lot, but this is simply not a very good move. The last mixture of horror and musical that was Sweeney Todd wasn't great either and this kinda follows in its footsteps only without the tremendously beautiful art direction and costumes. It certainly has a distinct look of its own and a world of its own, but the locations are sadly limited to a very few, so we don't see a lot of this world. The cinematography is pretty nice, but the whole thing...well, I imagined it flashier.

So how was the actual musical? I thought that some of the songs worked very well and were performed very well, while others completely failed. There are some pretty memorable ones (most of them are performed by Alexa Vega), but mostly it's rather forgettable. Overall, it's way too uneven. Same goes for the cast. While most of them have decent signing voices, not all of them fit in their roles (I'm looking at you, Paris Hilton), while other roles are just concepted simply for the sake of being bizarre. A certain case of trying too hard. I must say that Alexa Vega did a pretty impressive job in the leading role and emerges as one of the best things about the movie. Well, what a step-up from Spy Kids, eh?!

The movie's pretty bloody and gory and I mean really gory, not just like Sweeney Todd. There are character gutted, hearts ripped out, eyeballs ripped out, throats slashed and so on. Sadly, there isn't nearly as much macabre humor there and a lot of wasted potential. I think that I just expected this to be, yanno, more outrageous fun than it actually was.

The music's completely hit and miss (I'd say it leans more toward miss, actually), but I'm a sucker for Anthony Stewart Head and there's a sense of passion and ambition here that's hard to criticize. A few sequences bordered on breathtaking for me, just in terms of art direction, music, and how they were cut together. Have I mentioned I'm a sucker for musicals? B+

I'm watching it today. Can't wait.

I consider it to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. I mean, I enjoyed watching it, in the same way I'd enjoy slowing down to look at a car wreck, but I refuse to believe anyone could watch this and think it was anything approaching something "good".

F (or C - depending on my mindset).

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA - 7/10 ( B ) or 8/10 (B+)

I'm not sure about a rating yet. I dug it, but it was a bit disappointing. I think seeing it on the big screen and with an audience probably makes all the difference. I wish that's how I could have seen it.

2/10 -> F

A horrible experience. Basically nothing here works. The movie looks goods but that's the best thing I can say here. All of the music numbers were horrible. I felt like donating my ears to the repo man.

Ewwww. There was a great story here. But the execution sucks.

I like this modern day musical. It tells a tale of karma set against the backdrop of a futuristic world dominated by an "evil" monopolized organ repossession industry. The story flows smoothly and well-structured and the music is good to the ears. I like that the movie introduces each major character with each of their own back stories that, when tied together, forms the whole picture. A satisfying viewing experience.

B+