WHO’S IN IT?
Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski), Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern), Kevin Bacon (A Few Good Men), Mary-Louise Parker (Red), Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3), James Hong (Kung Fu Panda), Marisa Miller (film debut), Devin Ratray (Home Alone), Robert Knepper (Hitman)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Robert Schwentke (Flightplan), director; Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (Clash of the Titans), writers; Michael Fottrell (Fast Five), Neal H. Mortiz (21 Jump Street) and Mike Richardson (Hellboy), producers; Christophe Beck (The Hangover), composer; Alwin H. Küchler (Sunshine), cinematographer; Mark Helfrich (Tower Heist), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Nick Walker (Reynolds) is a city cop who is shot and killed by his corrupt partner Bobby Hayes (Bacon) in the line of duty. On his way to heaven, Nick is suddenly recruited to join the Rest In Peace Department – or the R.I.P.D for short – which apprehends souls and demons who are currently walking the Earth. Partnered with a deceased ex-US Marshall from the 1800s Roy Pulsipher (Bridges), Nick soon comes across an evil plot involving the man who killed him in the first place…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Right off the bat, there are going to be so many comparisons with the Men in Black film series that it can’t comprehend the workload. Both are based on comic books – this one adapted from the Dark Horse series of the same name by Peter M. Lenkov – both deal with law enforcement types who monitor supernatural beings on Earth, and both have a mismatched pair of actors as the protagonist main duo.
However, unlike those films, no-one really seemed to like R.I.P.D. So much so, in fact, that it only made $32 million in America which, compared to its $130 million budget, made it a box office bomb of epic proportions. On top of that, it was universally panned with only an 11% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that 89% of critics absolutely despised it. So, as you can imagine, the film died a quick death in the US.
Not exactly enough to convince you, the UK audience prior to its release over here, to go see it, I suppose. But in the end, what we say doesn’t really matter because despite all the negativity, the movie has Jeff Bridges in it. And that Dude makes anything bad even remotely watchable, and people go to see him in action no matter what. Unfortunately, the film also has Ryan Reynolds in the other main role, and while no-one can doubt his abilities and charisma, the past couple of years haven’t especially been kind to him. With Green Lantern, The Change-Up and most recently the DreamWorks Animation offering Turbo (out over here next month) all disappointing if not bombing outright, his film choices are either the result of bad luck or blind negligence. Hopefully it’s that first one, because Reynolds can be too good for the given material. Even so, who would’ve thought that headlining a sci-fi action comedy with Jeff Bridges would be a step down in his career?
But even so, R.I.P.D does look like a bit of fun, even though the main critical consensus on aforementioned website trashes its formulaic and dim-witted nature. From the trailer’s standpoint, it seems as though Bridges is having a ball while the rest of the visual effects, while lesser compared to some other work by studios this year, look passable enough. It seems that it’s just one of those movies where if you turn off your brain it’s a riot, because this is not a thinking man’s movie. Hey, it worked for the Transformers movies, didn’t it?
So, if you’re searching for something you’re not meant to take so seriously but just waste a couple of hours finding something completely ridiculous but still a touch enjoyable, then R.I.P.D is probably the movie for you. Plus, it has Jeff Bridges in it. Everyone should go and watch something that in some form or another has Jeff Bridges in it.
