The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

In review: Repo: The Genetic Opera

The hardest thing about looking at “Repo: The Genetic Opera!” in hindsight is that it is difficult to find a starting point in describing how bad it is. And it isn’t the type of bad where you will enjoy watching the film because its poor quality is humorous. No, this film is just plain bad.

It would have you believe that it is done in the same style as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” but it veers off in a completely different direction and can’t even supply the viewer with good musical numbers. It is produced by some of those involved with “Saw,” and the end result is about what you would expect. Literally think of what a musical “Saw” sequel would be like and you have the film’s basic gist without having to endure its lack of plot being carried out by a horrible cast.

The film is set in 2056. An epidemic of organ failures occurs and with the crisis a biotech company emerges that offers organ transplants in exchange for money. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous repo men. Thus enters a sheltered young girl who searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family’s mysterious history.

The film likes to switch from live-action to a series of comic-book panels periodically, and it is at these points the film is mildly watchable. But pretty much every plot point or background story is revealed in the comic-book panels, thus making the live-action points virtually pointless and uninteresting.

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A lot of the songs are “sung,” but none of them are catchy enough to even warrant a relisten. Most of the time it comes across as though the actors are just reading the words louder than they would typically say the phrases. My personal favorite though would have to be the song sung by Alexa Vega that includes the line “Why are my genetics such a bitch?”

When a musical can’t even supply good enough, to entertainingly bad, musical numbers, you know you are in a for a long treat. “Repo” may just be the longest. It isn’t that the film is too gory and gross, “Sweeney Todd” showed you can infuse musicals with gore and violence and still have a fantastic musical and film. No, it’s just that it isn’t fun enough. It is a film that goes for the bad instead of letting it happen. The film is like a person trying to be funny when they aren’t. It gets annoying and you just want it to go away.

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In review: Repo: The Genetic Opera