Review of Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) by Catherine S — 15 Apr 2011

Repo! The Genetic Opera is yet another little pleasant surprise. Sure, it's extremely gross and off-putting, but the excellent soundtrack, great cast, and interesting plot idea makes it all the worthwhile.

The story is set in the not too distant future (probably Next Sunday, A.D.), the world is facing a pandemic of organ failures that kill off millions of the population. Out of this disaster rises Geneco, run by a man named Rotti Largo. He gives organ transplants to people who need it for a steep price. And it's not just heart, lung, liver, or kidney transplants. I mean spine, intestine, brain, cornea, ear, nose, pretty much anything you can think of transplants. But what happens when you can't pay your debt any longer? Largo sends a Repo Man to repossess that organ, whether it kills you or not. (more often it kills.) The movie focuses on Shilo, a 17 year old girl who is suffering from a blood disease, the same one that killed her mother when she was born. Her father, Nathan, keeps her locked up in her room and tells her that the Repo Man is just a fairytale, when in fact he is the head Repo Man working for Largo. Soon enough, Shilo becomes entangled in a tale of lies, betrayal, and discovery.

Out of the whole cast, only three or four people are all that known. Joan Jett has a cameo appearance as the guitarist during the song "Seventeen", and Paris Hilton plays Amber Sweet, one of Rotti Largo's three children. Alexa Vega (of "Spy Kids" fame) plays Shilo and has a pretty good voice, one I didn't expect her to have. Anthony Stewart Head plays Nathan Wallace or the Repo Man, but I don't think he's all that well known but I could be wrong. Probably the best character/actress/singer is Blind Mag, played by Sarah Brightman. You may not know her name, but Brightman played Christine Daae in the original London cast of "The Phantom of the Opera". She really is the shining star in this movie, she's a great actress with the best voice out of everyone. The songs in "Repo!" are fantastic, with some of my favorite songs being "Chase the Morning", "Legal Assassin", "Zydrate Anatomy", "Chromaggia", and "I didn't know I loved you so much". Probably the biggest surprise that I had was that even with the excessive gore, the giant killfest, and the teeny angst, I got really weepy at the end. I won't reveal what happened, but I was close to bawling at the end.

As many people had happen, I was hesitant to watch this movie especially since it was produced by the same guys who produced the "Saw" franchise, and while it shows this movie was made with a lot more care than the "Saw" films. While it's not for everyone, especially those put off by excessive gore and the gothic tone, "Repo! The Genetic Opera" is still a fantastic film that has my stamp of approval. (Real rating: 84%).