A hacksaw used as a weapon. Yes, it’s ridiculous, but then so is the rest of the film. Repo Men is nothing but self-aware. It never loses sight of its B-movie style, it embraces it. The first and last act, especially the climax, even allow Repo Men to stand apart from the rest of the high-concept dystopic films out there. It’s bloody, silly, competently-made and, at times, even ambitious.
In the not-too-distant future you’ll be able to get artificial organs on credit. If you’re unable to pay those payments, then a man during the night comes back to reposes that organ or, as they refer to it, their property. One of those men is the totally narcissistic Remy (Jude Law), a former soldier who’s now one of the best repo men working in business.
His best friend is Jake (Forrest Whitaker), a fellow repo man who’s even crazier than Remy. They both love their job. One night on before Remy’s last job (before him and Jake join a S.W.A.T.-esque repo team) things don’t go exactly as planned. The next time Remy wakes up he finds in the hospital with a newly artificial heart planted in him. As his slimy boss Frank (Liev Schreiber) tells everyone else, “we’ll make a plan that benefits your lifestyle.” Unfortunately, for some unexplainable reason, Remy isn’t able to pay. Now the tables have turned and now Remy is on the run. As any other cheesy movie would say: the hunter has become the hunted.
Sure, it’s straightforward and typical, but the early implication made that it’s ambitious is in reference to the ending. It’s going to be divisive, similar to the film itself, but it takes chances. Many will call it gimmicky, which you could argue, but it’s audacious nonetheless. The final moments are so out there that the film doesn’t feel quite right and what happens is somewhat expected. There’s even a hilarious poke at the cliche idea of a Hollywood ending, so the final reveal isn’t completely surprising. Overall, it works.
The odd factor of Repo Men is that it feels like a fusion of two different movies that don’t gel quite right at times. At times, it’s a lovably crazy satire while during other moments it feels like a standard studio action movie. The standard studio action movie only overwhelms the second act. It’s where plenty of cliches pop up and you’re taken out of the world you were just introduced to and were already loving.
There’s also a very wasted subplot involving Remy’s wife who’s portrayed merely as a caricature. Ironically, she’s played by Carice van Houten who was also wasted in Valkyrie as Stauffenberg’s wife. She doesn’t condone of Remy’s job and she’s bitter, a rather fair motive, and disappointingly this conflict is underutilized and at times oddly used as comic relief. Houten is an excellent actress (see Black Book) who’s dispassionately underused.
Plenty of people will make the generic comparison to the films of Paul Verhoeven which, in may ways, is fair. It’s a satire full of dark humor. It keeps its tongue in its cheek, always funny. That said, unlike Verhoeven, Repo Men basks in gratuitous violence, clearly enjoying all the blood splatter. People forget Verhoeven despised and parodied Hollywood movie violence. This is gloriously filled with it.
This is Miguel Sapochnik‘s directorial debut and he shines during these moments of action. He even makes CG blood look good, which is rare. Every set piece is unique, especially the excellent climatic battle. Sapchnick also deserves credit for subtly building a world for his film to live in. It’s filled with small details to let you know everything about this universe. There’s no opening credits text or hammy voiceover explaining everything, he just throws his viewer into the fire.
You get the performances you expect from the likes of Law, Schreiber and Whitaker. They’re all good and understand what type of movie they’re in, especially Schreiber who nails the slimy corporate boss shtick. Repo Men delivers on the fun and there’s more than a few moments where it becomes a bit more than just a typical B-movie.