Whorticulture.com movie review of Repo! The Genetic Opera, directed by Darren Bousman & starring Alexa Vega, Anthony Head, Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman, and Paris Hilton
Repo! The Genetic Opera Review
Repo! The Genetic Opera is one of my favorite movies of all time. There is so much resistance with this movie. I had to basically BEG my friend MogulArmy to watch it, and she was 100% sure she was going to hate it. I think a lot of the resistance comes from the fact that Paris Hilton is in it, but I am not ashamed to admit that she is my favorite character and I find her performance outstanding.
It’s a futuristic goth opera. You need to know what it is when you go into it. It’s directed by horror phenom Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw fame (his upcoming Mother’s Day looks freaking amazing, too). The story centers around a sick, young girl (played wonderfully by Alexa Vega), and her tumultuous relationship with her father (Anthony Head), who is also secretly a “legal assassin.” The world seems run by an evil corporation, GeneCo, which harvests organs and leases them for a price. However, if you can’t pay, the Repo Man will soon be paying you a visit, and it ain’t pretty.
The movie enjoys seriously skillful performances from such greats as Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects) who, I’d like to add, is one of the friendliest celebrities I’ve ever met, as well as two opera powerhouses Paul Sorvino and Sarah Brightman (best known from her Broadway run as Phantom of the Opera’s Christine). Skinny Puppy’s Nivek Ogre, Terrence Zdunich, and Paris Hilton round out the cast.
Sarah Brightman’s superior soprano voice lends a gravity and sincerity to the movie, and is hilariously juxtaposed with Paris Hilton’s merely mediocre voice. However, Paris’s character – Amber Sweet – is a spoiled heiress who is obsessed with plastic surgery and back alley Zydrate, “the 21st century cure” drug. She forces herself into the spotlight with her singing and her antics. Come on, you can’t tell me the irony is lost there. She deliberately out-Paris’s herself and takes the piss. I have loads of respect for her for it. But each character is admirably unique. You can even overlook Bill Moseley’s…rare singing voice. Each character is perfectly developed and the actors involved succeed at bringing them to life.
It’s an odd mix of comedy, tragedy, and the best soundtrack I’ve heard in a long time. In my undergraduate career I argued that it was modern day Shakespeare. I must have done a pretty good job, too. This movie takes the place where Shakespeare dealt with power struggles, class struggles, old grudges and scorned lovers, and a level of gore paralleled by his (in my opinion) greatest work, Titus Andronicus. I think the most apt comparison overall however is Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
The overall appearance of the movie is visually stunning. The dark, bleak future is contrasted with bright, appealing comic strips of the past. They did wonders with the special effects, which must have just SCREAMED cheesy on paper. It all works gloriously to the film’s advantage.
This movie battles two main misconceptions. First, that it’s either going to lack emotion, or the emotion is going to be pallid and boring. It is neither. The scene accompanying the song “I Didn’t Know I’d Love You So Much” is overflowing with sadness and pain. Secondly, many want to classify this as the next Rocky Horror. IT IS NOT. I have seen this movie shadow-casted and it is NOT GOOD. Please don’t put this movie in the same category as Rocky Horror. There’s nothing wrong with Rocky Horror, mind you. It’s a fun, frisky good time. THIS MOVIE IS NOT. So stop it.
Great writing, strong cast, and fantastic direction (even if Bousman and I kind of got into it at one of the Road shows because I was too eager to discuss House of 1000 Corpses with Bill Moseley. Suck it, bro). Shut up and give this movie a chance. I give it a 10/10.
And by the way…my friend MogulArmy loved it. AND I’M NEVER GOING TO LET HER LIVE IT DOWN. ♥
I asked my boyfriend’s brother-in-law who his favorite character was. His answer: Giles (referring obviously to Anthony Head’s character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer), whose character Nathan is a dichotomy of a loving, caring, and often melancholy father - and the vicious, crude, and often vulgar Repo Man. If you’ve seen the movie I’d like to know who your favorite character was and why. And, as always, I want to hear your opinions.
