Repo! The Genetic Opera

I watched the second showing in Atlanta tonight. Some disclaimers:

As a fan of musicals, especially musicals that are not your usual fare, my expectations were high. I love Rocky Horror, was an avid fan for many years, and have been one of those who can quote not only the whole musical but all those lovely shout out lines in between. I also am a fan of stage musicals, and I would have to say Sweeney Todd has been my favorite since I first heard the music back in the early 90's. So I'm not afraid of a little blood with my music.

I also am a big fan of the Buffy musical. So I like Anthony Head's voice and acting. I should be foaming at the mouth at this movie. It's like it was made for me.

Unfortunately, I walked out of the movie thinking it was okay. Not great, but okay. That's when I ran into the fans, dressed like the characters and all chatting about how great it was. And it clicked.

This is supposed to be the next Rocky Horror... but without the long agonizing wait for a cult following. This was insta-cult classic! Just add water! The problem is, it's just not as good.

Believe me, I wanted it as much as the next Rocky/Buffy/Brightman fan, but the failing for me was in the music. I'm even a fan of this style of music, and it was not catchy. It was patchy. There were a few songs that were okay, but none of them were memorable. I'm not singing bits of them right now, and after a good musical you should be. As I talked to some of the fans who were wearing the costumes (some of whom I actually knew), their response to my critique was that "it grows on you" and that "I need to see it a few times".

They were gonna like this movie regardless, because they need another movie like Rocky Horror. And who doesn't? It gets boring watching the same movie for years and years - I know, I did it. But it's just not as good. And everyone is trying so hard to make it good.

This leads me to my last comment - I sat in front of a die-hard fan who was trying as hard as he could to make this movie great. He laughed the loudest and even tried to "Rockyfy" the movie by inserting his own shout-out comments. I remember thinking, "Dude, this isn't that movie" and I was only 5 minutes into it.

Don't try to make a movie good. Be objective. Even if it's your favorite kind of movie, don't be afraid to say that it's not that good. Wait for the ones that are.

This modern, actually futuristic, opera is unlike anything I've seen. Many of its qualities remind me of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' a film that was never on my list of favorites. This is better simply because it's able to hold together a more plausible and serious story yet still present itself in the aesthetic of a psychedelic musical. It blends brutality with comedy and music very effectively, in fact, there were far more laughs in our theater than anything else. The interactions between the characters as they sing their parts make for great character development and story progression simultaneously. The character's themselves are all well performed, including Paris Hilton (what happens to her needs to be seen, not described). I'm not the type to like weird, cult films but this held my attention. It's definitely worth a viewing, and if you have time to immerse yourself, then it's definitely worth some good applause.

I have been to cult films, I have been to great grand openings of everything from movies to books to games to this and that. If there is an opening, I will go to it. This movie... this entire experience, it was like nothing I've ever been to in my life.

People are asking whether or not this type of movie will gain 'cult' status, but the fact of the matter is... it already has. To quote Darren: "I'm standing up here, and I see that seventy percent of you are in costume, and the others are saying 'Damnit, why didn't I dress up?'." Dressing up isn't all that makes a cult, the fans are. The fact of the matter is, this movie has a rabid, feasting fanbase that would gladly hog-tie and grapple you to the movie just so that you have the experience of seeing it.

Those who say that this movie is crap, that it doesn't have an audience, and that the music is (my personal favorite) 'atonal', either weren't watching, listening or paying any attention to it at all. This movie is worth far more than anything I've seen in theatres for years. It is easily the most unique experience of my life.

I'd rather see something completely unique, even if it's offensive, gritty, shot with hand-held camera and staring sock puppets than watch anymore of the 'wannabe' good movies that have been coming out. These 'Masterpieces' that people consider to be SO amazing have nothing on a movie like this. This movie is untouchable, it is completely beyond all words.

Everything about this movie has a unique touch that is completely noticeable in absolutely every scene and song. It is an insult to creativity and artistry that a movie such as this should be shoved into only seven cities and outcasting all those who want to watch it so badly.

Myself and two friends drove down from Canada to watch it in Seattle, and we weren't the only ones, and some of the people at our showing were from Texas. This movie will surpass any movie this year through the years, simply because of the fans.

Do NOT miss watching this movie. If you can watch it, even if the theatre is three or four hours away... DO IT. Go in costume, shriek and have the best time of your life.

Fewer words, I imagine, strike greater fear in the minds of audiences and producers alike when the words "passion project" are thrown around. After helming three straight Saw sequels, long-suffering director Darren Lynn Bousman finally gets to cut loose creatively with his gory rock opera Repo, which evolved from a series of quickie stage improvisations courtesy of the film's writer/composers, Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich. Unfortunately, the film turns out to be more Across the Universe than Hedwig and the Angry Inch, eager to please but ultimately less than enjoyable for anyone not a devout enthusiast of its chosen musical framing – except in this case, it's a nostalgia-fest for turn-of-the-90's goths instead of baby boomers.

Bousman, to his credit, assembled an intriguing cast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anothny Stewart Head (a stage veteran who's also appeared as Frank n' Furter in Rocky Horror), Spy Kids star Alexa Vega, elevator-music superstar Sarah Brightman, renowned character actor Paul Sorvino (Law and Order, Goodfellas), horror vet Bill Moseley, and, in a shrewd bit of meta-casting, tabloid magnet Paris Hilton. In much the same manner that reading the cast list seems to create a logic fissure in the universe, the film's disparate elements never coalesce into anything coherent. Ostensibly an elaborate comment on consumer society and celebrity obsession, Repo seems to serve mainly as a hyperactive springboard for a filmmaker overeager to prove his uniqueness.

Set in a cartoonishly grim future, Repo revolves principally around Nathan (Head), a "repo man" who impolitely collects organs from hapless citizens on behalf of GeneCo (led by Sorvino's sinister, dying Rotti), a massive conglomerate that swooped in to commodify healthy organs following a deadly epidemic of organ failures. His daughter, Shilo (Vega), is ill with the blood disease that claimed her mother, and is kept in unwilling sanctuary in his home. Meanwhile, Rotti's offspring (Moseley, Hilton and Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre) bicker, in an obvious nod to King Lear, over which one will inherit their decaying father's empire. Oh, and somewhere in the mix there's also Mag (Brightman), a celebrity singer with GeneCo-implanted holographic eyes who's trapped in a dead-end contract.

If the plot seems needlessly dense, that's because it is, and the film is crippled at the outset by its ludicrous number of characters and plot threads, never to recover. This undercuts both the plot's coherency – already tenuous at the outset – and the integrity of the performances proffered by its diverse cast. Particularly wasted is Moseley, who brings his character to slyly sadistic life, but doesn't get much chance to develop in his eight or so minutes of screen time. Others get shoehorned into thankless roles – Vega, who has Broadway experience and shows evidence of being a capable performer, is saddled with a bratty, shrill heroine, and Sorvino, as the film's principal villain, is never able to find a consistent tone either of internal anguish or righteous indignation, largely because he's provided with a few too many motivations relating to nearly every other character. The supporting cast is uniformly competent – including the widely reviled Hilton – but none besides Mosely leave much of an impression. Head's "repo man" suffers most - his character enjoys his grisly work at some points and is disturbed by it at others, simply at the film's convenience, making him useless either as a figure of scorn or sympathy.

Smith and Zdunich don't only botch the film's plotting but also its densely arranged musical score, which spends most of its time occupying a confounding space somewhere between Ministry and Evanescence that simply shouldn't exist. Occasionally, a novel vocal harmony or passably funny lyric will arise (particularly in scenes where Head and Sorvino duet), but none of the individual songs are at all memorable. There's an opportunity for redemption in the film's embrace of over-the-top satire near the film's conclusion (featuring a memorable moment where Hilton's character loses face a bit) but ultimately opts for a lame, sequel-ready non-ending. For all of the film's references and targets, its Vaseline-on-the-lens aesthetics, leaden musical numbers and generally witless approach keep it from joining the ranks of the beloved "outsider" musicals its creators so obviously worship.

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We just got from seeing the Repo premiere and now I can't wait until November to see it again. The film was phenomenal! It was beautiful to watch and extremely entertaining. Repo far surpasses the Saw films in originality, creativity, and artistic integrity. This is not simply a slasher film, although there is plenty of violence to keep gore fans happy, there is a very interesting and unique story being told here. In fact, a whole world has been created in Repo and there is plenty of room for more stories to follow. Unlike many sequels, a sequel to Repo would be completely justified in respect to its content.

The music was catchy and I walked back to the hotel with it running through my head. There is a nice variety of songs featured in Repo and, as is natural with a collection of songs, fans will have their favorites and their least favorites. I can honestly say that even my least favorite songs were still necessary in the context of the film and I didn't really mind them. I was slightly caught off guard by how pop a couple of the musical numbers were, but again they were appropriate for the part of the film they were featured in.

Another surprise was the size of roles in the film. The roles played by Ogre, Bill Moseley, and Paris Hilton were not as prominent as I had imagined them being (and yes Paris gave a good performance). They seemed to have less screen time than the rest of the stars. This is not a serious complaint of the film itself, just a desire for more (especially Ogre). Skinny Puppy fans have never seen Ogre quite like this (just wait until you hear his voice). Other personal favorites (aside from Ogre) were The Grave Robber, Anthony Head, and Sarah Brightman.

Darren, the Cast and Crew, and the Producers of Repo the Genetic Opera have created a beautiful thing here. This is a horror movie with true originality in story and in visuals. They went out on a limb to make something new, something that hasn't already been proved to work and that type of effort needs to be supported; otherwise we will continue to be given "New" movies that it feels like we have seen before. I know the wait has been long, but I can now tell you with certainty that it is well worth the wait.

If originality is not supported it will continue to disappear.

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