Repo: The Genetic Opera vs Repo Men

[Raziel]

Repo: The Genetic Opera is one of my favorite movies. It's a musical, it has opera, it's filled with buckets of blood and amazingly fake gore, the acting is over the top, it's funny, the songs are catchy, there's actually a plot, it has a moral I didn't end up hating. Really, only two things bugged me: it was too short, and it had Paris Hilton.

Repo Men seems like it's going to be an action movie, with decent actors, and wind up going down the "hero realizes he's been fighting for the wrong side" path, ultimately shoving a moral down our throats. On the one hand, I've seen this movie done a thousand times with slightly different elements, on the other, it's very unlikely that Paris Hilton will make an appearance.

Thoughts? I'm still of the opinion that this is a damn dirty rip-off and we should all be disgusted, but that's just me.

[Edminster]

One of these days I'm going to upload the audio I captured when the director et al. did a screening near my place. The quality is probably beyond shit but still :\

Honestly the only redeeming factor I saw in Repo! was Paul Sorvino, and even then I don't think his presence was enough to save the whole thing.`Didn't even realise Paris was in the movie until you mentioned it, and even then I had to check IMDB to be sure. I guess I wasn't so immediately repulsed by her acting as you seem to be vv

I guess I'm also kind of annoyed about the five dollar keychain vial of Zydrate I bought there that completely disassembled itself within a month of buying it. I've got a spare floating around somewhere but still.

If it's any consolation it looks like Repo Men probably isn't going to do so hot at the box office, and Repo! will gain (and already has the start of) a cult following ala The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[Lethal Interjection]

Repo Men shouldn't do very well. It doesn't have the right ingredients.

At first I thought Repo Men was going to be a more serious take on the other, but from the reviews I've read? Well Ebert said something to the effect "it is either supposed to be funny and is okay, or it is just a terrible movie". And then another reviewer praised it on its humour (so I'm guessing he took it as funny). I have very little interest, personally. I did have some in The Genetic Opera, but not enough, apparently.

Still, I was a bit surprised at Repo Men. I mean, studios copy general ideas from other movies plenty, but these two movies seem way too similar (in basis, not in final product) to allow me to have any respect for the movie. If it weren't for Whittaker, I'd assuredly never see it. In fact, if they didn't land A-list (ish) actors, the movie'd be straight to DVD, I'd imagine.

[Asherian]

I thought Repo! was okay, not great, but a nice little movie with some very well done imagery. I actually liked Paris Hilton in it, and thought she was a great choice for Amber Sweet. The fact she had to practically beg to even get to audition, and then was chosen on her performance despite her name helps that some. Anthony Stewart head was great, several of the songs were fun. (I get Zydrate stuck in my head still and its been forever since I saw it.)

Repo men looks like a movie I'm just going to wait for on dvd. I tend to enjoy that kind of movie, I just doubt its well done enough to even vaguely justify the effort required to see it in theaters. Even with what a sweet ass Jude Law has, it just looks like another slap stick morals and excuse for special affects.

Not that there is anything wrong with an obvious excuse for special effects, I love you G.I. Joe.

[Edminster]

Found in the Cinema Discusso subforum of SA; I think it sums everything up perfectly.

Now that Repo Men has come out, Goths and outcasts everywhere have united, presenting a common front against the tyranny of the Hollywood studio system. “NO!” they shout, blinking and squinting as they face the unfamiliar light of the sun as they emerge from their parents’ basements. “NO, YOU WILL NOT STEAL OUR MOVIE!” The movie to which they refer is Repo! The Genetic Opera, a film whose considerable pedigree (directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the auteur who brought you the modern masterpieces Saw II-IV, and featuring a cast of cult favorites such as Paris Hilton and Paul Sorvino for some ungodly reason that I will never understand) nevertheless failed to translate to box office success (much like the social lives and career plans of its fans). But is their cause a noble one, or all based on a colossal misunderstanding?

Let us begin with the most basic outlines of the premise: Repo! The Genetic Opera creates a world in which all races other than Caucasians have vanished from the earth and every aspect of human life is scored with a thudding bass line that makes Nickelback seethe with anger and envy. It’s no wonder, then, that the film resonates so strongly with its fanbase. Gone are those awkward “minorities” who truly are persecuted or discriminated against, finally allowing the “establishment” to realize the full extent of their mistreatment of Goths everywhere. What’s more, at long last, the world finally understands the intense rage, power, and magnificence of nü-metal, and has adopted its emotional power to fill every waking moment of life.

By sharp contrast, Repo Men not only features a diversity of characters, but has the temerity to cast an African-American in one of the lead roles. To be fair, the movie at least has the decency to cast one of the “good ones” (Forest Whitaker – after all, anyone who directed a Sandra Bullock movie must be okay), but couldn’t they have shelled out the extra money and just gotten Mr. Freeman? He’s the one we really all want to see. But the rest of the cast includes Jews, rappers, and any number of minorities who feel like they have some legitimate claim to historical discrimination and hatred, thus removing the focus from the truly persecuted Goths.

Even beyond the world the films create, Repo! The Genetic Opera manages to smuggle in a subversive message that sticks it to The Man from within the studio system. An enraged howl against the perverse military – industrial – health care – insurance complex that rules this country, Repo! The Genetic Opera stabs from hell’s blackest pit at the villains who represent that world. Yes, the film casts fashion magnate / MENSA member / oxygen depleter Paris Hilton, and for many, that would seem to be a betrayal of the “independent” feel of the movie. What those critics fail to understand is that the casting is entirely ironic; how else can you explain the fact that Hilton’s face falls off and she becomes an object of pity and ridicule? Yes, one could focus on the fact that Hilton got paid for being in the movie, or the fact that the movie gives more attention to a known attention-whore, or that it gives her “indie cred” in a pathetic way, but all of those are just bougeouis notions which fail to account for the fact that Hilton is the joke, not in on it.

Now look at Repo Men, which casts its leads based on some nebulous notions of “talent,” “acting ability,” and “charisma,” antiquated notions which have no place in the New Goth Order. In the world of Repo! The Genetic Opera, all actions are ironic, and the only point in casting someone attractive is to mock them, just like all those fucking cheerleaders and prom kings who ignored us in high school. Oh, they think they’re high and mighty, but they’re not the ones making the movies, are they? No, they’ve bought into the system, man! They’re working in offices, but they don’t know what life is really about. They’re fucking phonies, and I hope they all fucking die!


Ahem.

To return to the point, Repo Men casts known sexy man Jude Law but doesn’t even make fun of his good looks or find a way to make him look grungy or independent. Who wants a movie where the lead can act, emote, and carry a film? Rather, Repo Men caters to the idea that beautiful, talented people will succeed, rather than realizing that when the revolution comes, the time of the jocks will be over, and the time of the “losers” will begin.

Repo! The Genetic Opera takes this idea to its logical extreme, anchoring the movie with a narrator who resembles some mutant offspring of Tommy Wiseau without the accent and yet with all of the talent of that remarkable poet. In its infinite wisdom, Repo! The Genetic Opera presents us with a metropolis in which people are judged not for their talent or ability, but for their lack thereof. How else to explain the way the film casts a man who grinds the film to a halt with his stilted, lurching “singing” and who has all the charisma of Tommy Wiseau’s bitch of a girlfriend in The Room? Clearly, Repo! The Genetic Opera is playing with Harrison Bergeron-like ideas, but ironically presenting them as a positive, a world in which anyone can succeed, no matter how talentless or pathetic.

But to truly understand these two films, one must look at their inspirations. One can’t read a review of Repo! The Genetic Opera without finding mention of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and at first glance, the comparisons are baffling. Yes, both films feature counter-culture attitudes and music, but whereas The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a remarkably overqualified cast, really strong musical talent, a sense of humor, and the sense that everyone involved is probably having a lot of fun, Repo! The Genetic Opera takes itself deadly serious, features music about as catchy as a Cubs outfielder, talent deep enough for an earthworm to wade through, and looks as though it might have been less fun for the actors than being one of the victims in Bousman’s magnum opus Saw II: The Squeakquel. So why the comparisons?

Understanding Repo! The Genetic Opera’s approach to cinema, however, makes this all abundantly clear. Any self-respecting Goth kid knows and loves The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but also instinctively knows that it was made by their father’s generation, and knows as well that nothing truly good can come of that generation. What’s more, admitting that they love something from that generation is the same as admitting that their parents might have once been cool, and to do such a thing is a shameful act which could leave one cast into the darkness, where there is much wailing and running of eyeliner. Therefore, the only acceptable alternative was to make a modern version of the film, but done without the flaws of the original. Gone is the 70s rock music; in its place, the thundering power of shitty nü-metal. And gone are people who look acceptable and attractive to the standards of their time, for true Goths know that to allow that to happen would be a betrayal of their hatred of all that mainstream America loves. Plus, the hot chicks wouldn’t talk to them, so fuck ‘em. By taking everything that made The Rocky Horror Picture Show a success and a watchable film and destroying it, Repo! The Genetic Opera is the ultimate cry of rebellion – how else can you rebel against the rebels except by making your own rules up as you go?

By contrast, Repo Men takes its inspiration from any number of other movies and ideas already made, creating something wholly unoriginal while still feeling like a retread. It’s the one aspect of the movie that will make Repo Men understandable to the Repo! The Genetic Opera crowd – the idea that you can take something magnificent and remake it, except shittier, and the world will be better for it. After all, if Equilibrium, 1984, Brazil, Blade Runner, Logan’s Run, The Last King of Scotland, Rushmore, Citizen Kane, and The Cider House Rules are all brilliant, throwing them all into a blender and making a new movie out of the remains should be even better, right? In this way, Repo Men functions as a sort of postmodern commentary on the Meet the Spartans / Epic Movie films, taking their random and senseless appropriation of pop culture events with no sense of context and applying it to filmic homages. The film takes superior moments and ideas from better films and uses them without context or meaning to see if they still function on their own and can carry the prestige of those films to this one – an apparently failed experiment.

And yet, in the end, Repo Men is competently made, with a solid cast, acceptable acting, a decent sense of pacing, and a coherent storyline. All of these are simply concessions to mainstream America, making Repo! The Genetic Opera the truly superior film in every way, and one worthy of those who see through the emperor’s new clothes and throw stones at his glass house while stitching in time. One film presents a new utopia, where the untalented, the unattractive, and the mediocre have taken over the earth, and the attractive are mutilated and cast aside; the other gives you a glossy, Hollywood version where the jocks win and the truly oppressed and misunderstood remain forgotten. Don’t buy into the studio bullshit; go see Repo! The Genetic Opera, and see the truth.

On a semi-serious note to conclude all this: In the end, Repo Men is the perfect retaliation to Repo! The Genetic Opera. It’s impossible not to see that Repo! The Genetic Opera was intended to be a modern midnight movie, ignoring the fact that any film in recent memory which has set out to be a cult film fails miserably, coming across as condescending and patronizing. Fans of Repo! sing its praises and talk about how brilliant it is, never realizing that Repo! is a collection of shitty inspirations and thefts from better movies that knew what they were doing, and it’s kind of appropriate that a movie came along and stole from Repo!, just as Repo! stole from any number of better movies. How much more appropriate, then, that the film that’s stealing is Repo Men, which is already known as a mishmash of scenes, ideas, motifs, themes, and stories from any number of classic works of film and literature, throwing them all together in the effort to make the appearance of something new?

In the end, Repo! The Genetic Opera is a misbegotten, shrill, obnoxious, terrible effort to make a midnight movie and cash in on the Goth subculture, and it is pathetic that people have accepted such a horrible excuse for a movie and bought into to its prefabricated cult. By contrast, Repo Men is theft on a grand scale, a collage where the director and screenwriter borrow from the films they loved and ended up creating something that borrows from the best and only successfully reminds you how much better you’ve seen all of this done in the past. If you’re given the choice between watching the two, you’re probably better off going with Repo Men, if only because at least it’s probably competently made and you’ll have fun thinking about all the great movies it’s stealing from. If you watch Repo! The Genetic Opera, by contrast, all you can do is look forward to the sweet release of death to free you from your earthly torture. But here’s the better question: if someone is forcing you to choose between the two movies, you need to take a moment and question why you know this person, and what you have done to them, because clearly you have wronged them deeply, and need to atone for your actions.

[Asherian]

Honestly.. I enjoyed Repo!

I feel a bit dirty for it now, since I honestly missed the goth underpinnings so obviously making it a 'hit' of any kind. It was bundled with another movie we bought for 5-6 dollars, and figured why not watch it. It was enjoyable, I still get one of the damn songs stuck in my head on a regular basis (One with Paris Hilton singing in it even*). Anthony Steward Head (Or as you probably know him Giles from Buffy the Vampire slayer) did a decent job, though I know he can sing better then that and as such was mildly confused by his performance in the film. Some of the affects were interesting, the comic book feel only felt a little forced and all in all a pretty decent remake of the musical.

Oh right, its a musical originally that has (at least last time I looked into it) been doing pretty well and still touring.

As far as Repo Men goes I haven't seen it yet, I'm sure it will someday make its way into my DvD collection, to sit near other movies of destopian futures and cheesy effects. I took by far to earnest a score the fact my little brother, who true doesn't have the best of taste enjoying the Saw Franchise up to like 4 or 5, thought it was 'meh'. I figured if he thought the effects were that sub-par then it would hardly be a theater film, and due to its eventuality into my collection anyways I'd save the money and just wait for it to hit the bargin bin at my local dealer of such electronic crack.

.... I think I have like 1:40 movies I own that cost me more then 7 dollars. About 1:3 of those cost me less then 3. Compared to 20 bucks to go see a movie with my husband, and the added joy of now finding a sitter for the cutest little dinosaur of them all, patience isn't just a goddamn virtue, its reality.

*Zydrate comes in a little glass vial/A little glass vial?/ A little glass vial.

[mountainmage]

I haven't seen either, and I don't plan to.

[CorruptUser]

According to wikipedia (I didn't see the movie), in Repo Men Remy suffers electric shocks from a malfunctioning defibrilator, causing him to need a new heart. Couldn't he just sue his company for workers comp, and get the heart for free in the settlement?

[LordRetard]

Maybe his union isn't that strong.

[Raziel]

I'll reply with the line that I always use: When watching a movie (or playing a game, or reading a book) if you find something that doesn't make sense, a wizard did it.

So far as Repo! vs. Repo Men, I still love Repo! for the over-the-top value to it. Yes I know it's every goth's wet dream, but just because a movie is a piece of crap doesn't mean it can't be excellent at the same time (hmmm, I'm pretty sure I started a thread about this...). My only real beef is that Repo Men was almost certainly the result of someone watching Repo! and thinking "huh, that wasn't terrible, I bet I could make a ton if I made a movie based around the exact same premise, but just replace the singing with explosions and gun fights. Hell, if I got some recognizable actors it could be a hit!"

Like I said earlier, I'll eventually end up seeing it, just like I always end up watching remakes of my favorite horror films: just to see how bad it turns out.

[Frostbite]

Repo Men is probably better for the simple fact that it isn't an opera. How quirky! They took a gory movie and made it an opera! Those kids'll love it. They love quirky or ironic things these days.