Repo Men clips and pics

Exhibiting the survival instincts of a hedgehog just about shuffling out of the path of an onrushing juggernaut, Universal have yanked forward the US release date of Repo Men by a couple of weeks to 19 March. So with the Jude Law-starrer now just nine days away from opening stateside, some fresh stills and clips have been duly delivered, in a bid to generate at least a modicum of buzz.

Repo Men had been due to take its North American theatrical bow on 2 April, but the recent shift into March looks like a rare canny move on the part of Universal. This is because the deeply-considered, entirely artistically motivated decision by Warners to 3D-ify their Clash of the Titans remake has pushed that movie back from the end of March to the start of April. Realising that the hyped-up Cash for the Titans would be the primary gaping black hole down which audience dollar would wastefully be tossed over that weekend, Repo Men's backers decided to sneak their boy into the fray a mite earlier - in order that this runt of the litter might be afforded the opportunity to put some pre-emptive legwork in at the box-office (UK viewers will have to wait till 23 April).

Now, if that all sounds a little bit negative, then we are only taking our lead from the parent studio themselves, who have to date appeared roughly as enamoured of their sci fi action-comedy-thriller as a filthy hog would be of a hot soapy bath. How different things were at the outset of production on Repo Men. Then entitled The Repossession Opera, the movie was already shooting in Toronto in 2007, before the book on which it is based (by Matchstick Men author Eric Garcia) had even been published. The aforementioned Law, copper boy of British acting, was on leading man duties, while Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber and Alice Braga (I Am Legend) filled out the supporting cast. Entrusted with the onerous responsibility of yelling “Action!” and “Cut!” was British director Miguel Sapochnik, finally taking the reins of his debut feature, having first piqued the curiosity of Hollywood back at the turn of the millennium with his science fiction short The Dreamer.

But with filming completed, the picture has languished in the Universal vault, with the posters and trailers which have been released to date having succeeded in eliciting little enthusiasm from the public. There have however been objections issued by other film-makers, irritated that Repo Men seems to be treading a little too close to their own respective territories. The closing title card of the trailer for Repo Chick, Alex Cox's forthcoming spiritual sequel to his 1984 film Repo Man, read, 'Accept No Substitutes', which was widely interpreted as a dig at Universal's far more expensive movie. A more direct outburst of recrimination came from Darren Lynn Bousman (the director who gave us Saw II, III and IV. Thanks for that Dazza), who posted the following statement regarding perceived similarities between Repo Men and his low-budget Repo! The Genetic Opera.

'Okay, let's get this out – I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT REPO MEN! In fact, I am really let down. All it takes is one viewing of the trailer to see how similar our movies are. Come on, Organ Repossession? Cheesy commercials selling organs? An EVIL corporation? A bar code logo which is scanned by REPO MEN? A street drug – the corporation turning on their main REPO MEN – The mere name – REPO MEN?!? Yeah – all too familiar.'

Bousman then proceeds to launch into a spiel about the merits and triumphs of his own movie, but we will spare you that bout of self-aggrandisement.

So with Repo Men having been largely ignored or belittled to date, can today's fresh batch of seven clips and accompanying flotilla of pictures (coming courtesy of Collider) possibly represent the moment that the cinema-going public started getting excited about Sapochnik's film? Well... it's possible. But only in the way that the Earth suddenly stopping dead on its axis and every single human inhabitant being flung forth through space to land on the surface of Mars in a huge group tableau of humorously inappropriate positioning is possible. Repo Men looks effective enough on a surface level, but it is the deadening sense of familiarity of characters and scenario alike that serve to so effectively kill any hopes for the finished film.

Set “ten minutes in the future” (as Sapochnik has previously remarked), the world of Repo Men is one in which the populace are able to extend their lives by purchasing replacement organs at great expense, from an organisation called The Union. If these organ-recipients fail to keep up with their repayments though, they will receive a visit from The Union's repo men – of whom Law's Remy is one, and Whitaker's Jake is another. The narrative rub duly comes when Remy himself has a replacement heart fitted and he cannot afford to settle his own debt. Jake is set on his trail, and he turns to the also-implanted Beth (Braga) in order to elude his old pal.

Hmm, capitalism gone crazy, dehumanised future society, technological advancement shorn of moral rigour, a corporate bumhole (Schreiber), all tacked onto an old as the hills chase narrative (the official synopsis actually uses the line, 'the hunter has become the hunted'). Repo Men looks like it could be the new I, Robot or Surrogates – where action dross is given the most cursory of speculative philosophical paint jobs, and we poor, paying saps are expected to lap it up and say thanks.