Stylistically, "Repo" is closer to a live-action comic book musical. It is trying very, very hard to be an "instant cult classic" which, by definition, is impossible. Don't get me wrong, I am not rating this 1 star because I don't like singing. For reference, I'm a guy who likes musicals, science fiction, and horror flicks. I like Anthony Stewart Head and Sarah Brightman as actors and singers. I like Paul Sorvino as an actor. This should have been a genre-blending film that I would love. Unfortunately, it is just too much of a mess. "Repo" can't decide what it wants to be; the singing is all over the map in style and quality, the plot and characters were confused, and the true villain, the writing is as stiff as a corpse. If this were written by Joss Whedon ("Buffy", "Serenity", "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog"), I'm sure it could have been great. As it is, I can't recommend it. Rent it if you're curious.

I have been a big fan of director Danny Boyle since "Trainspotting". Cillian Murphy was fantastic in this as he was in "28 Days Later". Michelle Yeoh turned in an excellent performance of pure acting sans martial arts. The rest of cast is great too!

This film is bit of a throwback to the "thinking" sci-fi movies of the 70's. If you've heard about this movie at all, you might have heard that the second half kills it. Well, I'd say that the final third goes "off course" a bit. I won't go into the details, as you should discover them for yourselves, but it didn't "ruin" the film for me. Go into this with an open mind and you'll be able to take away some truly great movie moments.

Finally, despite the whole "let's go kick-start the sun" premise, there is some really compelling physics presented which is discussed further in the extras and commentary by scientists hired to help with the production.

So, starting with humor, I understand why this film rubbed some folks the wrong way. The funniest bits for me were the self-referential jokes (like Jacky Wu Jing’s Jet Li and Wong Fei Hung references were great). I’m sure there are those viewers, however, who thought that that humor was distracting. I’m sure it didn’t help those who thought that the tone was a little confused. I’m sure there are those who didn’t like the “young love” story. Yes, the entire plot is lifted from other sources ("Danny the Dog", "Ong-Bak", a bit of "MacBeth", etc.). Yes, there are many clichés (like the fact that he’ll be asked to throw a fight). I’m not ruining anything, like other reviewers, because that plot point is predictable. And finally, yes, there are a couple of slower scenes that should have been removed.

Speaking of the story, generally regarded here are fairly thin, I thought that the meditation on the corruption of prostitution was really interesting. In the movie, every fighter is paid by the mob because of what they can do with their body. Wu Jing’s girl in the film, played by cutesy teen, Miki Yeung, becomes his pimp early in the film while another friend becomes an “actual” prostitute. All this plays into the broader theme (outside of ass-kicking) of money and the sacrifices and gambles people will make for it. This is really the central motivator played out the poor, rich, good guys, and villains in the film. In fact, I thought there was some interesting attention paid to this theme among the distinct strata of Triads.

I have a final thought on the theme of “underground” fighting in movies: I have always viewed this concept as a necessary evil (at best) in order to facilitate more ass-kicking. From "Enter the Dragon", "Bloodsport", "Danny the Dog" ("Unleashed"), "Ong-Bak", "Balls of Fury", etc., there is this idea that the Best Fighters in the World can be gathered for a fight to the death. Yeah, right. Why would a man train for 20 years so he can step in to the ring to fight to the Death? For money? Um, professional non-lethal fighters can win money without becoming professional murderers. If wealthy mobsters and socialites wanted to pay to see folks fight to the death, they’d be watching untrained (probably chronically mentally ill) homeless people. Fatal Bum Contact would make a bad film though. Hopefully writers will keep thinking of better reasons for the good guy to bust out the Fu without resorting to this lame plot device.

I certainly wasn't disappointed. There were moments of sheer directorial brilliance. The cast is top notch. The story and characters are interesting. The characters, two peasant couples in a war-ravaged land, seem to spend the length of the movie making the worst choices possible; usually out of various forms of greed. The tension isn't about "will they run into trouble" but "when" and "how much."

This is what I call a "film school" movie. It's something that could be played for budding directors who could dwell endlessly on the minutia of long takes, lighting, composition, etc. This isn't a bad thing, per se, but don't expect an action movie. Ugetsu is great at period drama and social commentary but not a single car explodes nor are any young martial-artists trained to avenge their sifu.

I had calibrated my expectations low enough for a movie "inspired" by a video game but, man, what a crapfest. I really wanted to like it, if only for Sammo and Yuen Biao, but I couldn't do it. The special effects were neither special nor effective. For example: in one scene a kid holds up his fist with thumb at his ear and his pinky extended to his mouth to answer the phone. 'Cause, you know, in the future your cell phone with be an Avenging Fist Phone with optional pinky boom-mic attachment. That’s not futuristic; that’s extremely lazy filmmaking. There were other effects that tried to simulate Amime and Video game fighting. These failed.

But what about the story, you ask? Don’t ask. If there was one, it sucked. Acting? Yep, there some acting happening. Martial Arts? Um, see “special effects” above. The one thing promised that was delivered is that most of the cast (Sammo and Yuen excluded) are both young and hip. Yep, very hip. And pretty too; all the boys and girls are pretty. If you want hip and pretty, I suggest downloading JPop videos from the web instead.

One final thought: You might be thinking that any film with “Avenging Fist Finger Phones” must fall into the category of so-bad-it's-good. Feel free to apply generous doses of alcohol and see if you can find some enjoyment in this mess. Personally, the director seemed to just suck all the joy out of the film (maybe in an attempt to make a kung-fu "Blade Runner"?) that I couldn’t enjoy it on any level.

There were many really fantastic moments. Sure, some are stolen and others are totally whacked out, but that didn't ruin the fun for me. And yes, the acid/venom-space-car reminds me of the retarded "baby" alien in Alien IV in terms of boss-fight-lunacy; but what the hell, it was still fun. Finally, I generally hate kids in action movies (most movies, actually), but this time it worked great. Jet has great father-son chemistry with young Miu Tse (same talented kid from “My Father Is A Hero").

Don't buy this if you don't like: