Ascension
2009-03-30, 01:32 AM
Well, finally my curiosity, combined with the addictiveness of the soundtrack (not unlike Zydrate, those tunes) overwhelmed my squeamishness, and I watched Repo! The Genetic Opera. Now, it seems the original thread we had about it is gone, but I want to talk about it, dammit, so I'm starting a new one.
I actually watched it while the forums were down, and didn't discover they were down until I tried to post about it, but by the time they came back up I had already forgotten to post. But now I remember. So there you go.
I LOVED it. The gore wasn't nearly as bad as I feared... in fact, it didn't bother me at all. I generally have mixed feelings, too, about musicals in which almost everything is sung, but it really really worked here.
Most of the general discussion was covered in the last thread, but here are a few notes on my personal experience...
Grave Robber
When I was just reading about the movie, listening to some of the songs, checking out screencaps, I really didn't understand the folks who were talking about how hot Grave Robber is. When I heard there were Shilo/Grave Robber shippers, I scoffed at the very idea.
When I watched Repo!... My god he is sexy! And they do have chemistry! And his actor was one of the writer/composers! And the animator of the comic-book sequences! The mind boggles.
Paris Hilton
My god, she really can act! At least while playing a spoiled rich girl!
The mind, again she boggles.
I still don't understand...
...how Pavi has fans, both in and out of the movie itself. Well, okay, fans who think he's funny I understand. But fans who think he's anything other than an amusing crazy person?
...how Rotti communicated the order to shoot the doctor who informed him of his terminal condition. What, do the henchgirls shoot someone every time he slams a folder down on his desk?
...how Shilo was able to forgive Nathan so quickly. The concealment of his secret identity, that I can understand forgiving, but the whole poisoning her to ensure she won't be able to leave him thing? That's creepy possessive. Really, really creepy possessive. I'd have probably shot him.
Repossession Nitpicks
Cross-posted from the Just Bugs Me page on TV Tropes, where I posted when I couldn't access GitP (and where there have already been several rational responses)...
Why kill in every case if the repossession could be carried out non-lethally? In the case of Blind Mag, for instance, you could take the corneas back without killing her, and it would certainly look better to not kill such a public figure. On the other hand, if you do plan to kill every person you send a Repo Man after, why not scavenge all their functional body parts while you're at it? Nathan is only ever seen reclaiming the part that technically belongs to Gene Co, but given that Gene Co appears to more or less run everything, couldn't they take the whole person and sell all their parts, profiting much more from their death?
I would love to have seen...
...how Amber brought her brothers under her heel following Rotti's death. And, for that matter, how she convinced the rest of GeneCo to go along with it. Especially since the night of his death also involved events like her face falling off.
(At least we know how she got the public to support her. Luigi with a knife (and when is he ever without one?) is amazingly convincing.)
...the rest of the movie. Oh, come on, you've only got a 97 minute movie! Why cut those songs you cut? Jerks.
...less clumsy exposition. The comic book sequences worked in some cases, but I felt they were overused. Even sticking to the almost no dialogue format, you could have explained some of those things without, well, turning the film into an animated comic book for a minute or two. The first one was pretty cool, but by the third I was not amused.
Question...
I couldn't tell if the body that Marni's old dress was on prior to Rotti stealing it and giving it to Shilo was a mannequin or her own stuffed body. Either way it's creepy, but if it's the latter, well, it adds a whole 'nother dimension of crazy to Nathan's character (and he, like most of the characters in this, already has enough crazy to go around).
Did Nathan remind anyone else of...
HRG/Noah Bennet from Heroes? A glasses-wearing, morally grey, often badass, overprotective father who tries to keep his teenage daughter from learning that his day job involves hunting people?
Why can't...
...we get someone to play Batman who can do that good a job of maintaining separate voices for his civilian identity and his costumed persona? Bale's growl is laughable. Head does an amazing job of making the Repo Man distinct from Nathan.
I actually watched it while the forums were down, and didn't discover they were down until I tried to post about it, but by the time they came back up I had already forgotten to post. But now I remember. So there you go.
I LOVED it. The gore wasn't nearly as bad as I feared... in fact, it didn't bother me at all. I generally have mixed feelings, too, about musicals in which almost everything is sung, but it really really worked here.
Most of the general discussion was covered in the last thread, but here are a few notes on my personal experience...
Grave Robber
When I was just reading about the movie, listening to some of the songs, checking out screencaps, I really didn't understand the folks who were talking about how hot Grave Robber is. When I heard there were Shilo/Grave Robber shippers, I scoffed at the very idea.
When I watched Repo!... My god he is sexy! And they do have chemistry! And his actor was one of the writer/composers! And the animator of the comic-book sequences! The mind boggles.
Paris Hilton
My god, she really can act! At least while playing a spoiled rich girl!
The mind, again she boggles.
I still don't understand...
...how Pavi has fans, both in and out of the movie itself. Well, okay, fans who think he's funny I understand. But fans who think he's anything other than an amusing crazy person?
...how Rotti communicated the order to shoot the doctor who informed him of his terminal condition. What, do the henchgirls shoot someone every time he slams a folder down on his desk?
...how Shilo was able to forgive Nathan so quickly. The concealment of his secret identity, that I can understand forgiving, but the whole poisoning her to ensure she won't be able to leave him thing? That's creepy possessive. Really, really creepy possessive. I'd have probably shot him.
Repossession Nitpicks
Cross-posted from the Just Bugs Me page on TV Tropes, where I posted when I couldn't access GitP (and where there have already been several rational responses)...
Why kill in every case if the repossession could be carried out non-lethally? In the case of Blind Mag, for instance, you could take the corneas back without killing her, and it would certainly look better to not kill such a public figure. On the other hand, if you do plan to kill every person you send a Repo Man after, why not scavenge all their functional body parts while you're at it? Nathan is only ever seen reclaiming the part that technically belongs to Gene Co, but given that Gene Co appears to more or less run everything, couldn't they take the whole person and sell all their parts, profiting much more from their death?
I would love to have seen...
...how Amber brought her brothers under her heel following Rotti's death. And, for that matter, how she convinced the rest of GeneCo to go along with it. Especially since the night of his death also involved events like her face falling off.
(At least we know how she got the public to support her. Luigi with a knife (and when is he ever without one?) is amazingly convincing.)
...the rest of the movie. Oh, come on, you've only got a 97 minute movie! Why cut those songs you cut? Jerks.
...less clumsy exposition. The comic book sequences worked in some cases, but I felt they were overused. Even sticking to the almost no dialogue format, you could have explained some of those things without, well, turning the film into an animated comic book for a minute or two. The first one was pretty cool, but by the third I was not amused.
Question...
I couldn't tell if the body that Marni's old dress was on prior to Rotti stealing it and giving it to Shilo was a mannequin or her own stuffed body. Either way it's creepy, but if it's the latter, well, it adds a whole 'nother dimension of crazy to Nathan's character (and he, like most of the characters in this, already has enough crazy to go around).
Did Nathan remind anyone else of...
HRG/Noah Bennet from Heroes? A glasses-wearing, morally grey, often badass, overprotective father who tries to keep his teenage daughter from learning that his day job involves hunting people?
Why can't...
...we get someone to play Batman who can do that good a job of maintaining separate voices for his civilian identity and his costumed persona? Bale's growl is laughable. Head does an amazing job of making the Repo Man distinct from Nathan.