Repo Men, the dark vision of a dystopian near-future based on the novel “Repossession Mambo,” is a science fiction parable in the vein and on the level of Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, Children of Men and Minority Report. Using the bleak idea of private companies selling artificial organs on credit and repossessing them after three months of delinquent payments, the film explores the timely issue of health care gone woefully awry.
Jude Law plays Remy, the best repo man in the business whose wife has grown weary of his on-call hours and morally questionable profession where clients are shot with non-lethal stun guns only to be left for dead after having their life-giving organs unceremoniously removed. The gripping struggle between family (Remy and his wife have a young son) and the occupation that allows Remy to sustain a family is one that many can relate to. This is made even more palatable by Law’s emotive scowl, exemplified by his splotchy blue-collar haircut and obligatory sci-fi barcode neck tattoo. In a role seemingly more befitting the Bruce Willises and Jason Stathams of Hollywood, Jude Law proves he too can portray a compelling thug.
Along with the family drama, Remy’s partner in condoned crime, Jake, played with measured nihilistic abandon by Forest Whitaker, heaps on the suspense as the childhood friends are pitted against one another following an unforeseen twist that leads Remy to question the propriety of the repo business, sending him on the run through the very ghettos he and Jake once raided.
Finally, the intriguing game of cat and also cat that punctuates the later half climaxes in a full on gore assault as Remy and his new girlfriend (a homeless addict/lounge singer) hack and slash their way through the repo company’s mainframe in a hallway of havoc scene that not only pays homage to, but also does one better than the South Korean classic Oldboy.
Just when you thought Miguel Sapochnik’s sublime sci-fi opus couldn’t get any awesomer, the film seamlessly transitions from visceral ass-kickery to mental mad-hattery with a haunting surgery as sex metaphor and a classic sci-fi mindfudge moment, throwing the viewer headlong into the deftly created world of Repo Men while also mirroring our own. In a just world, Repo Men and Avatar would be viewed as equal works of science fiction.
April Fools! I hated the film and was lying all along—except for the Avatar thing.
