Review of Repo Men (2010) by Yirrah — 20 Oct 2013

TLDR: Repo Men is a sci-fi thriller about the dangers of treating peoples lives, health and well-being become a commodity. It deals with ethics and morality, and while it never reaches the great heights, it is a solid movie with a surprise twist.

Full Review: A movie set in a bleak future reminiscent of a Ayn Rand-esque society where money decide whether you get to live with the help of artificial bodyparts or die, "Repo Men" sets out to show us what happens when one those tasked with repossessing the organs that people can no longer afford the payments on, finds himself with an artificial heart.

The setting is fairly clever, and it is a dark and cautionary tale of what happens when the health and well-being of people is treated like a commodity. The movie has a gritty and occasionally extremely bloody artistic expression, best seen in the disused housing complexes where those who try to avoid being killed and having their organs repossessed by the repo men. The violence is in no way toned down and there are scenes that will make anyone with a weak disposition feel ill, but this only adds to the feeling that the movie has a message about the ethics and morality of "just doing your job".

The actors are a bit "flat", but this may be as much from their characters being desensitized after killing people and ripping their hearts, livers, kidneys and so on out for years, as from a lack of acting enthusiasm.

The ending, which many have disliked struck me as a necessity. Yes, it angered me too, but without the last few minutes we would be left with a generic sci-fi action thriller, while this ending made the moral and ethical questions stay with me, and force me to think more deeply on the implication of this movie.

It is not a masterpiece, but it is a good movie that has a message to us all.