Huh.

[salienne]

So, I've just watched Repo! The Genetic Opera and, honestly...?

Not as good as I was hoping.

Also, one of my favorite songs from the soundtrack wasn't even in the movie. And it's one of those that really needs context.

I guess my main issue is, Nathan never finds out that what happened to Marni wasn't his fault. So he dies feeling guilty for just about everything, and with Genetic Emancipation following his death, it just seems like Shilo gets over it far too quickly.

And I realize it's supposed to mirror the stage version and show society's apathy by having all the people at the Opera do nothing, but... really? No one does a damn thing?

And having the entire stage (and Shilo) covered with blood at the end was just overkill. It took away from the intimacy of Nathan's death and cheepened it.

And by the end, nothing about that world even changes. Sure, Shilo seems to have the possibility of a new life, but doing what? Everyone she knows, everyone she cares about or who cared about her (with the possible exception of Grave Robber), is dead. She thinks her dad killed her mom, and she's never so much as left the graveyard before this day.

I realize maybe the point is that nothing changes, we all die anyway, life and society and consumerism suck and are always here, but... why bother with the whole movie then? If the entire point of the movie is "Life sucks, watch these people suffer completely over the top sorrows for no apparent reason!", then that's a really shitty purpose.

We needed more of Shilo changing and starting off a new life, we needed just a little bit more redemption for Nathan. There needed to be some hope there, because after a bunch of rich people sit there and watch people kill one another and do nothing, the movie contradicts "Chase the Morning" and the optimism of Nathan's last words.

And I'm still trying to figure out where "Needle Into a Bug" is supposed to go, because I'm choosing to be more optimistic than to think Shilo just goes to numb the pain and becomes assimilated into this shallow empty world.

I mean, geez, with the exception of Nathan murdering people, she was better off with the blood disorder locked up in her house.

Although, on a more positive note, when Nathan finds Blind Mag in the house? Such a great scene. I love Blind Mag.

But, yeah. Maybe it'll grow on me now that I have far lower expectations (and keep wondering about how good it could have been)?

Comments

[zinnydark.livejournal.com]

This movie? Was the big chunk in the middle of a larger story. They had originally planned to film all the flashbacks as the beginning and a whole lot more after. If the movie had done well at all they would have made the ending somehow (which was really funny to hear after they sent the Q&A bitching about how everything out there now is sequels. ~weg~) So, yeah, there wasn't supposed to be a downer ending, but they really like it anyway.

Needle in a Bug!: So, After Rotti kidnaps Shilo, she's supposed to go through a series of rooms meant to mentally break her down to prepare he to kill her father. She get's to a room that's completely dark with Graverobber hanging from the ceiling and a corpse on the floor. Graverobber tells her how to extract Zydrate so she can find her way out and he can find a way down. She does it. Then she finds out the corpse is her mother, and that Graverobber was working for Rotti in exchange for not being wanted anymore (and by 'working for' I mean stealing the corpse, which wasn't in the tomb but in that little walled-off room in their house that Nathan sang to. ~shudder~). It was a very last-minute cut for time after they had released the soundtrack. Tears.

I still love it to pieces, but I reiterate, you've got to watch in a RHPS setting. Though it's really embarrassing when you start to yell 'Make your genetics your BITCH' when it's been cut out. ~blush~

[salienne.livejournal.com]

So, yeah, there wasn't supposed to be a downer ending, but they really like it anyway.

See, I have no problem with downer endings. I love downer endings. But the problem with this downer ending was that it felt rushed and that there was no payoff for all the suffering in the movie. Half the early songs are about how terrible it is for Shilo to spend her life locked up, how she needs to get outside, how she should "chase the morning" and "change the world" and all that... and then the only redeeming things about the world outside (Blind Mag and Nathan) die horrible horrible deaths. And Shilo just leaves. We get no pay-off on the "Nathan really does have redeeming characteristics and Marni wasn't his fault!" because no one ever finds out, Shilo even leaves thinking he killed Blind Mag. Then nothing changes, because Rotti's kids take over GeneCo.

The ending just doesn't fit with what went before besides on the very surface "everything sucks" sort of level, which is just a poor ending for the characters, structurally, and thematically. And for those of us who haven't seen the musical (such as me), that's... pretty bad.

That said, I hope they do find a way to make the ending. Because that was just... meh, is the best way I can put it.

What IS the actual ending, btw? And what does "RPHS" stand for (I'm assuming the actual stage performance)?

Needle in a Bug! Yeek, I sort of like that, but CREEPY. Do you know if they filmed the scene or whether there's just the song? Still, I sort of like it cut then. Mainly because it keeps Graverobber as a sort of good guy, vs. working for Rotti. Adds a tiny bit of hope the world outside her bedroom.

(And I apologize if this is coming off all negative. I really did like it, and a few rewatches will probably make me like it more. I'm just... really disappointed right now.)

[zinnydark.livejournal.com]

They were talking about doing a comic, since Terrence Zdunich is mad skilled and did all the panels for flashbacks, etc. They had hoped to get another movie, but... yeah, not so much. Fingers crossed for that!

But I totally get what you mean. I think the fact that Amber is my favorite character (I know, shut up) kinda affected my viewing of it. Though I agree, I want to see what Shilo does now.

They didn't say what the 'real' ending was, just that there was more to the story. And RHPS means Rocky Horror Picture Show, meaning with a ton of people, preferably in costume, singing along and calling out all the BS so you don't' think it's just you. ~weg~

They did film it. Terrence was upside down for two days, and all that got in the movie was a half a second flash at the end. He was not happy. I'm pretty sure they're putting it on the DVD, I can't wait to see it.

(No problems. I'm just super defensive, since all the critics and their mother's are all 'WORST MOVIE EVER!!!' and I'm all 'NO, YOU'VE GOT IT WRONG!' Thus is the life of a fangirl.)

[zhalin.livejournal.com]

There was definitely room for improvement, but I still loved it.
One of my favorite songs, "Things You See In A Graveyard", wasn't as menacing as I'd hoped it would be in the movie. Even though Rotti's a miserable ol' coot, I wished he had more life or...something, when he did that song.
Ah well.

But! Blind Mag's still badass as ever. :D

[salienne.livejournal.com]

Bah, I hope I come to love it, although it may take serious fanficcing for that. (See my comment above for my slightly less ranty and concentrated reasoning).

I love what they did with Blind Mag, and "Night Surgeon" was so much more amazing than I'd pictured. So was "21st Century Cure".

OH, DUDE. I'm totally coming up this weekend! On Thursday, actually. Not sure when I get up, though, so not sure if I can Repo it up. Still, hang-out time as Lisa has offered me a place to stay and I miss you guys immensely, yesyes?