Now that Barack Obama has introduced universal health care in the US, the scenarios in this film are less of a possibility than they were a year ago, although with the UK government slashing state funding in favour of the private sector it may yet happen here. Mind you, the repo men have certainly been busy anyway, taking people's homes.

Based on the novel The Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia, who also co-wrote the screenplay, this film has nothing to do with Alex Cox's 1984 cult classic, REPO MAN. In this film of a dystopian future, which looks like a slightly glossier version of Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER or the world of Max Headroom, Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are repo men for The Union, a powerful corporation that sells artificial organs to the needy and vulnerable.

Although the organs come with a high price tag, it is high-interest loans that make The Union their money, like buying an extended warranty from an electrical store. However, if the recipient of the new organ can't keep up the payments they get a visit from the repo men.

Having the bailiffs come into your house and take your TV away is mildly inconvenient and a little embarrassing; having the repo men come into your house, shoot you with a tazer then remove the organ in question while you lie on the floor unconscious doesn't leave you with much negotiating power.

Remy enjoys his unorthodox job, and the rough and tumble with his long time friend Jake, however Remy's wife (Clarice Van Houten) would rather see him in a safer sales job, something Remy is clearly not cut out for, so he takes one final job. Predictably, like many of the situations in the film, something goes wrong and Remy ends up in a coma needing a new heart, which his boss (Liev Schreiber) convinces him to take. Unfortunately, Remy has a change of heart with his change of organ and losing his killer instinct means losing his income and his ability to pay, so he ends up being hunted down, along with another by, you guessed it, his best friend.

The film is clearly trying to be topical in a sci-fi setting, addressing corporate greed and inhumanity and the massive foreclosure situation in the US, not to mention the downside of private healthcare, but it is not nearly as smart as it thinks it is or wants to be.

The plot points are all predictable and signposted, and the characters clichéd, although the ending does have a twist that you probably won't see coming, but it does feel like it was added as a "let's put in a twist at the end, it worked for Shyamalan" and actually weakens the film, where something more enigmatic like INCEPTION would have been better.

Production design and action sequences are clearly influenced by BLADE RUNNER and THE MATRIX, which are great choices to be inspired by, whether intentional or not. The action sequences are visceral and not for the squeamish, hence the 18 certificate, although they are not any worse than THE EXPENDABLES, which has a 15.

Overall, if you like blokey, dystopian action movies then this will entertain, and might even stimulate a bit of intellectual debate afterwards, or at least maybe a debate about the ending.

Not a lot in the way of special features: a commentary track, some deleted scenes and a look at making the special effects.

REPO MEN is out on DVD and Blu-ray from Universal on August 23 and can be ordered from Play and all good retailers.

We have three copies of the film to give away on Blu-ray, courtesy of Universal. The enter the competition click on the link below. Entries close on September 8, 2010.

Film © 2010 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved. Packaging Design © 2010 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved.