No,
Repo Men isn’t a sequel to the cult ’80s film
Repo Man. Both films feature protagonists who work in the collections business, but in this film artificial organs get repossessed. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker play a pair of repo men who are especially ruthless and especially good at their jobs. But when Remy (Law) has an accident at work that results in him needing an artificial heart, he suddenly has a new perspective on his job. Law and Whitaker are good in their roles, as are supporting players Alice Braga and Liev Schreiber. Early on, the script delivers some satisfyingly dark comic moments, but eventually
Repo Men loses its sense of fun and degenerates into just another typical violent sci-fi action film. Anyone familiar with 2008’s cult musical
Repo! The Genetic Opera will find the premise here very familiar. There’s also a fair bit of
Total Recall in the mix. Rip-offs are nothing new in Hollywood, but if you’re going to make one, it’s better to learn from a master like Roger Corman who knows to keep it fun and cheap. He also wouldn’t try to stretch 80 minutes worth of recycled garbage to two hours. **
