repo! is what would happen if moulin rouge & the crow decided to have a baby. which to me sounds like a sterling endorsement, but if it doesn't to you, well then-- what the hell is wrong with you? you've got anthony stewart head singing-- if the buffy musical & the various other buffy bits where giles sings taught us anything it is that mister head is awesome. plus, who knew he could do that singing serial killer voice? & sarah brightman is in it: that alone lends a lot of credence to the "opera" part of the tag. really-- this isn't a musical, it actually is an opera. my girl paris hilton is in it as well, good for her. i kept insisting that the graverobber was someone famous-- is it the guy from type o negative? no. then i remembered ogre from skinny puppy is in it, & i decided it must be him. nope, ogre was someone else-- the graverobber is the guy who wrote the play & drew the comics. oh, & the patriarch is played by the guy who played lord montague in romeo + juliet, too. oh, & a danielewski is in it? poe! also joan jet & melora from rasputina.
the movie is disjointed & the songs are not catchy. it is sad, but again-- not a musical. actually an opera. a goth'd up opera. the movie doesn't make any unnecessary attempts to explain away its axioms, thank heavens. comics give the rundown-- "massive organ failures!" & the like. the plot of the movie is actually pretty tight-- it focuses on your big stuff; murder, vengeance, horrible revelations, betrayal, that kind of thing. of the songs, i think "i never thought i'd love you so much," the big father/daughter lovefest? was actually the most moving. weirdly. the gore is nearly cartoonish, & the sex? well, other than a pair of boobs flashed, the sex is mostly characters yelling about cutting holes in people to fuck them. i think i have to say that i quite liked it. i don't know that it will stick with me, but it was over the top enough, & it didn't take itself too seriously. The pacing was breakneck. actually, the best hope for it i think it cult status, maybe translating itself back to the stage? i'd be interested in seeing the play.