One of my least favourite things to do is scroll through Netflix trying to find a film that both me and Mrs Screen Room Movie Blog can agree on.
For the most part we have similar tastes in movies but whereas I can be fussy (and dare I say a bit snobby) when it comes to certain films, she’ll give most things a chance. This can make it hard work choosing a film we both want to watch.
Last night was one of the less stressful Netflix visits as my wife suggested a film that turned out to be a highly enjoyable watch!
Repo Men (2010)
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a sci-fi/action/thriller starring Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Forest Whitaker (Rogue One), Alice Braga (I Am Legend) and Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) among others.
It’s based on the 2009 novel, “The Repossession Mambo” by Eric Garcia.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“In the future, medical technology has advanced to the point where people can buy artificial organs to extend their lives. But if they default on payments, an organization known as the Union sends agents to repossess the organs. Remy (Jude Law) is one of the best agents in the business, but when he becomes the recipient of an artificial heart, he finds himself in the same dire straits as his many victims. With his former partner (Forest Whitaker) in hot pursuit, Remy runs for his life.”
I’ve been aware of this film for some time, but for the same inexplicable reasons I’ve never watched a lot of other films, it’s managed to pass me by until now. In fact I didn’t even know what it was about until reading the synopsis on Netflix. As soon as I did I was sold.
The first thing that struck me was how much like Blade Runner it is.
It’s obviously heavily inspired by the Ridley Scott classic, not just in terms of the dystopian futuristic setting (cityscape, huge digital billboards etc) but also in the film’s theme: People hunting people (in this case to recover their synthetic organs). It’s so similar in places that I had to Google it earlier to see what the internet had to say about it.
I found an article on a website called Cinemablend where, during an interview, the film’s director, Miguel Sapochnik says that he considers it a "Better Blade Runner than Demolition Man" (that’s up for debate obviously).
He also said that he imagines Repo Men as taking place around 25 years before Blade Runner, in which people are "building the foundations of that world." Having now watched it I can see what he means and I kind of buy it.
The similarities between the two films are undeniable, still, this is very much it’s own movie.
The story’s interesting (if not a tad brutal) and the film has a decent pace with some good fight and action scenes.
If you’re squeamish like me, you may want to look away from the screen (or sheepishly through slightly separated fingers) during certain scenes as it makes no effort to shy away from gore (it’s about the repossession of internal organs after all).
Jude Law is actually really good in this. I don’t mean to sound surprised, I just realised that I haven’t seen loads of his films so it was interesting to see him not only in an action role like this, but also as the leading man. I should probably watch a few more of his movies…
Forest Whitaker as you’d expect is also very good in (again) a slightly different role for him.
My only gripe with the film is the way in which Jude Law’s character is stitched up (pun intended) in the first place. I thought surely, employees/associates of the company who make these synthetic organs would get either a hefty discount, or hell, even free ones?! Mind you, there wouldn’t be much of a movie then would there.
Anyway, if you like the idea of a good action/sci-fi/thriller inspired by Blade Runner (1982) that has hints of Minority Report (2002), Equilibrium (2002), and to a degree, the remake of Total Recall (2012) I recommend giving this a go. You might just find you enjoy it. I certainly did.
It’s currently streaming on Netflix.
Seen it? Let me know.