Iffy for 16+
Gory futuristic action film with anti-corporate message.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Repo Men is a violent, gory sci-fi action film set in a dystopian future, and not to be confused with the movies Repo Man (1984) or Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008). The hero is a "repo man" whose job is to violently re-claim his company's property (artificial organs), which includes maiming and sometimes murdering people. One particularly gory scene includes characters cutting open their own bodies to read a bar code on their artificial organs. Language runs the gamut of "Goddamn" to "f--k," and there is some sexy stuff, including one very brief scene in a sex club that includes female nudity and a couple having sex. Overall, it's too violent and downbeat for anyone but older, responsible teens.
- Families can talk about the movie's extreme violence. How did it affect you? Did it make you laugh? Cover your eyes?
- The corporation in the movie provides people with artificial body parts and organs, gets them deeply in debt, and then kills them to get the parts/organs back. How can the company expect to gain from this business plan?
- One character talks about how "a job is just a job." Is this true? Or is a job part of who you are as a person?
- One of the movie's themes comes from the story of the cat in the box, which is both alive and dead at the same time. What does this story mean?
The good stuff
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Messages: The movie clearly has something to say about current topics like health care, insurance companies, and corporate corruption. The movie's hero decides to stand up to his corrupt company, but his path includes gratuitous murder and extreme violence. What's more he tries to save only himself and his girlfriend, and not the countless other people who are being hunted by the evil corporation.
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Role models: The character of Remy (Jude Law) sends a mixed message. He decides to do the right thing by standing up against the evil corporation, but he does so selfishly and violently. He murders anyone who stands in his way, and winds up saving only himself and his girlfriend (not the countless others who are in the same boat). What's more, he begins a new relationship with a woman while still trying to repair his crumbling marriage.
What to watch for
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Violence: There is a great deal of slicing and dicing of flesh, complete with gory open wounds, and spraying, spattering blood. We also see many fights, using fists, knives and other blunt objects, as well as old-fashioned guns (with bullets), futuristic laser guns, and Taser-like "shock" guns. In one very intense scene, the heroes slice open their own bodies so that they can insert a scanner to read the bar codes on their artificial organs.
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Sex: A woman starts to perform oral sex on a man but is interrupted. There is a quick sequence of events in a sex club, taking up less than one minute of screen time, but filled with female nudity, and a man having sex with a woman from behind. The hero and the girl kiss quite often and appear in bed together, though they are never seen totally naked, or having sex.
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Language: We hear multiple uses of "f--k" in several forms (including in the lyrics of a hip-hop song). Other foul language includes "balls," "asshole," "damn," "Goddamn," "p---y," and "s--t."
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Consumerism: There are (at least) two ads for Puma, once on a billboard in a subway station, and then moments later on the side of a sports bag.
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: The heroes drink beer fairly often during the movie's first half -- or at least it looks like beer since it comes in futuristic-looking bottles. In one shot, a conflicted, confused character is seen drinking, with several empty bottles on the table in front of him.
Fan Reviews provided by
3
Entertaining enough by Ajlina
I was fascinated by the concept and I like Jude Law films and so off I went. Acting was good - Law, Whitaker, Schreiber, believable. Loved the music, the fight scenes rocked, the atmosphere was spot on, money well spent on the sets, CG was good. Story was fine. Didn't like the singing girl, they could have found someone better - that can actually sing and act. Tempo was up and down - not an adrenaline junkies movie - they will get bored. Viewers that like gore, knives, surgery, will be entertained. A little bit of sci-fi, life family drama, action, not suspenseful I'm afraid, but it held my interest throughout. I liked the ending ;) I will watch it again on DVD. Late teens and up. Jude fans will enjoy his hotness. I see people are screaming rip-off - I say who cares! I didn't see the "original" and I'm betting most people didn't. If I waited for an original movie - I'd never go to the movies.
4
Not Bad! by too_legit
I really don't know how this movie got such bad reviews!? I watched this movie on Blue Ray and it was incredible. I haven't seen a plot anything like this one. It's a must rent in my opinion.
2
Repo Men by uashaner
Can I go back to the theater and repossess my $9 and 60 minutes? I left halfway through. This movie could not hold my attention.
4
Jude and Forest work well together but this doesnt use that to its full by Dark_Chameleon
The premise is good, the idea, the plot, the futuristic look without geing all star wars or artsy about it.
The only problem here are the characters arnt used enough, the action isnt dramatic enough, the ending was too easy to figure and the change of heart (pardon the pun) just didnt work so good as no enough time was allow judes character to change his attitude.
Given another 20 minutes and some good screen writing this could have been a very good sci fi movie but it was cut too short and too many characters wernt developed enough to feel for/with them, as a sci fi fan i enjoyed it but didnt love it
Grade: B- (could have been so much better)
3
Repo Man by granmaof4
Traded the tickets to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This was a good movie for pre-teens. I found it to be a little too long.