Repo Men – A Movie Review
Academy Award nominee Jude Law? Check. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker? Check. That was the cast for this year’s sci-fi action thriller Repo Men. However, despite its many adrenaline pumping scenes, the movie did not live up to people’s expectations. So what exactly went wrong with the movie?
It certainly wasn’t the acting of its star-studded cast. It was more the plot and how the movie was presented to the audience. Some parts definitely deserved a “Wow!” while other parts would just make you go “Huh?”
The main idea of the movie is simple. In the year 2025, a corporation called The Union sells organs for transplant to the general population via a credit system. If you don’t pay up, the repo men take them back. And F.Y.I. they don’t ask nicely.
Remy (Jude Law) is The Union’s top repo man. Together with his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker), they’re very much like a serious, no nonsense Starsky and Hutch set in the future. Remy receives a heart transplant because his heart was damaged by an extensive electric shock during his last job. Unable to perform his repo duties as efficiently as before, he flees and the rest of the movie is about how he takes The Union down.
The first part of the movie is where the fun’s at. That’s where audiences get to see how the repo men get to work using their high-tech gear. Another thing to look out for is the fight scenes, where Filipino martial arts such as Kali and Eskrima are used.
Unfortunately, that’s all audience is going to get from the movie. Rotten Tomatoes rates it a 22%, quoting “Repo Men has an intriguing premise, as well as a likeable pair of leads, but they’re wasted on a rote screenplay, indifferent direction and mind-numbing gore.”
Parade Magazine’s July 2010 issue ranks it the #7 Flop on “The Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010 (so far).”
BY THONG WAI CHEONG
Jude Law (left) and Forest Whitaker in Repo Men. Courtesy of Hollywood.com
It certainly wasn’t the acting of its star-studded cast. It was more the plot and how the movie was presented to the audience. Some parts definitely deserved a “Wow!” while other parts would just make you go “Huh?”
The main idea of the movie is simple. In the year 2025, a corporation called The Union sells organs for transplant to the general population via a credit system. If you don’t pay up, the repo men take them back. And F.Y.I. they don’t ask nicely.
Remy (Jude Law) is The Union’s top repo man. Together with his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker), they’re very much like a serious, no nonsense Starsky and Hutch set in the future. Remy receives a heart transplant because his heart was damaged by an extensive electric shock during his last job. Unable to perform his repo duties as efficiently as before, he flees and the rest of the movie is about how he takes The Union down.
The first part of the movie is where the fun’s at. That’s where audiences get to see how the repo men get to work using their high-tech gear. Another thing to look out for is the fight scenes, where Filipino martial arts such as Kali and Eskrima are used.
Unfortunately, that’s all audience is going to get from the movie. Rotten Tomatoes rates it a 22%, quoting “Repo Men has an intriguing premise, as well as a likeable pair of leads, but they’re wasted on a rote screenplay, indifferent direction and mind-numbing gore.”
Parade Magazine’s July 2010 issue ranks it the #7 Flop on “The Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010 (so far).”
BY THONG WAI CHEONG
