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Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
If the people behind Hannah Montanna did a gore-hound flick.
First, I feel I must clarify something. Putting blood and guts and goth girls in a movie does not make it edgy, a cult classic, or provocative. It also needs to have acting, good songs if it is a musical, and an interesting story. I have not found a movie I have disliked watching more than this in a long time. As my title says, I felt like I was watching some Disney, Jonas bros kind of crap. But whereas Disney channel stories cater to Hollister type crowds, this is for the trendy, just as spoiled teenagers at Hot Topic. To me there was no difference, it was just blood and guts instead of haircuts and glitter.
The lyrics and songs were terrible. The song "infected" was pointedly bad, and I cringed through most of her whiny teenager performance. "I'm infected....with your GENETICS". I believe there was some sort of line like "damn these GENETICS!" that made me want to vomit. The grave robber was some over-made up guy with this brooding "I'm an attractive, brooding trendy goth guy in a music video" attitude. I think he's supposed to come across as deep, mysterious and bad ass, but he just comes across as more of a self-centered, shallow fashion model then Paris Hilton does.
At one point, in a perfect "like srsly omigos u guiz lololol" styled line, she spouts "why, cuz i'm seventeen, well, it's better than forty!" which then cuts to a horrific rock and roll sugar-coated spoiled brat anthem. Every teenybopper who chose hot topic over ambercrombie was probably rocking out. "Ya, my dad is so lame, he makes me take out the trash it's no fair, i'll show him what a bad ass rebel I am!" This one scene, this Joan Jett-respect killing scene, was more painful that any scene I have ever seen in any movie. Ever.
The whole movie was filled with horrible lines that I could go on and on about. Bottom line is this, this movie made me cringe in it's horribleness. Omigosh, guts and singing at the same time? Yes, trendy teenagers go see it and pretend it's ground breaking, and pretend it's a cult classic, but it's not. I love gore movies, I love horror movies, and any self respecting gore hound or true hardcore horror fan will stay away from Repo, forever.
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins in not a sequel!
I loved the movie, but they're are enough reviews voicing the same opinion I do.
I literally only came here to beat this into people's skulls: Batman Begins is not a prequel! There are baffling number of reviews complaining about things like: "How could they have cell phones if the next movie takes place in the 80s? hello!" Because it is not a prequel! Just like the TV Show, animated series, comics and Burton movies are different Canons, so is this movie! This should be fairly obvious with The Dark Knight coming out. But I'm not looking forward to ripping out my brains when people start calling it a remake!
Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
Not the strongest Modern Japanese movie, But still great!
Battle Royale is not only one of the best money making movies in Japan, but originates from an equally successful book and resulting manga series of the same name. It has become a cult hit in alternative movie rental stores and the internet for many years now, with people mainly owning a copy through EBay auctions. It wasn't until recently that the DVD release of this movie was available to America, complete with the sequel for the first time with subtitles, and a behind the scenes in Japanese with no subtitles. I hope this review will help anybody who might have heard of it, or not, be introduced to this superb movie which takes a stark look at all the different archetypes of human personality.
At first glance, the synopsis of this movie makes it sound like yet another action blood fest, and many critics in America will quick to label it as such. In a chaotic near future, the Japanese government is fed up with the rise in student disobedience and violence against teachers. So, every year, they ship a random ninth grade class to a deserted island, and are forced to wear collars. They are to play a game: Last one to live wins, if nobody wins after three days, the necklaces will detonate. The viewer naturally assumes the movie will be not unlike the Saw series or any number of rehashed action gun-slinging movies. However, the skill of the director is his reluctance to fall into this pattern. Instead, the movie studies how differing personalities evolve when faced with this danger. The viewer wonders what they would do in such a situation. Could you turn on your friends? Try to stop the violence? The film takes all of the differing viewpoints into account. What you end up with is a beautifully shot, and also wonderfully scored, movie reaching into the core of each character, and every viewer can relate to at least one students plight.
While there are scenes of gore, they are done much differently in other Japanese movies such as Suicide Club or Ichi: The Killer. They are more unrealistic, holding more true to the manga than real life, more comparable to old samurai movies or Kill Bill (which in my opinion was much more gruesome). The blood that is in this movie, in my opinion, should hardly deter the viewer from the deeper story, and never seems out of place or over-the-top.
The directors also choose a strong respected cast to back up his story, including the great actor/director/comedian/writer Takeshi Kitano, as the students' old teacher. While this is not Kitano's best performance, he brings believability to the character that makes you feel for him as much as you despise him. The rest of the large cast is just as strong, with only a couple bad apples. The only main issues are some things lost in translations. In one scene, A subtitle reads "This Demm Actual Situation". But it shouldn't take away from the film. The acting is powerful throughout, as you see both the ugly and good side of each character, which only makes the losses more tragic and the victories more inspiring.
I would recommend this movie to anybody interested in psychology, especially in younger teens, just as soon as I would recommend it to Japanese movie fans, drama fans and action fans alike. When the credits roll, which I imagine you will sit through for more of the superb musical score led by Masamichi Amano you will be left with an experience not soon forgotten. However, I would just as soon advice against the sequel, headed under a different writer, where it is a fine movie it never comes near matching the greatness of the original.
Also, there is an American remake coming out in 2008, which many will fear will skip the emotional content of the movie to favor the violence. It will be released by New Line Cinema, and part of the anxiety is the producer, Neal Moritz, who was also behind Torque and XxX 2. Many feel Moritz will merely make a violence flick, playing up the guns and toning down the real feeling of the original, adding on to the growing pile of Japanese "rip-off" movies in the last two years. My advice is seeing this movie before the greater public forgets it for the remake.