R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D.

Director : Robert Schwentke

Year : 2013

Genre : Action / Comedy

Rating : **

'R.I.P.D.' is a rather lifeless and unimpressive adaptation of the popular comic book 'Rest In Peace Department' written by Peter M. Lenkov. Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon, 'R.I.P.D.' tells the story of a cop who is killed by one of his own and upon reaching the afterlife, is instated into the titular Rest In Peace Department; an organisation who serve to patrol the world searching for 'Deados'; souls that failed to cross into the afterlife and who return to Earth as hideous demons. While the premise sounds like fun and the cast is impressive, 'R.I.P.D.' fails to emote any sense of drama, excitement or comedy due to it's shoddy screenplay, poor special effects and two - dimensional characterisations. As always, Jeff Bridges gives a good performance and Mary Louise Parker is fun as the snarky and flirty head of the R.I.P.D., but they are the only good things about the movie and after a while, even Bridge's wild west brogue becomes annoying. It really takes a bad movie to make The Dude look bad, but 'R.I.P.D.' does it with ease. However, while the picture is rubbish, it is entertaining rubbish and while the acting is pretty laughable and the computer effects are very un-spectacular, I was never bored and with a zippy running time of 96 minutes, 'R.I.P.D.' doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Ryan Reynolds plays Nick, a popular Boston police officer who along with his partner Hayes (Bacon) has stolen a chest full of gold from a recent drug bust. Racked by guilt, Nick informs Hayes that he intends to return the gold to it's rightful owners. But when the cops are sent to raid a warehouse, Hayes shoots his partner dead and frames one of the criminals for murder. 

Upon his ascent into the afterlife, Nick suddenly finds himself in the office of Mildred Proctor, the director of the Boston R.I.P.D.. Upon agreeing to join the agency in order to save the Earth from an upcoming apocalyptic event, Nick meets his new partner, the gruff and unpredictable Roy Pulsipher played by Jeff Bridges. Together, the unlikely couple return to the Earth to protect the living from 'deados' while Nick also tries to find redemption for his murder at the hands of his ex - partner.

German director Robert Schwentke is probably best known for his films 'Tattoo', 'Flightplan' and 'RED' and while I haven't seen 'Tattoo', I am a big fan of the taut thriller 'Flightplan' which I found to be an engrossing, puzzling and brilliantly acted piece of cinema and 'RED' which was great escapist fun, despite it's many failings. In terms of style, 'R.I.P.D.' certainly has more in common with 'RED' than 'Flightplan' and Schwentke once again replaces narrative or story structure with elongated action scenes that merely serve as filler to the rather small plot. However, while his previous movie balanced the action with well developed characters, 'R.I.P.D.' relies much more on basic archetypes and Proppian models to serve as the movies agents and this makes the film seem that much more generic and cliched. This is a shame because it's cast is pretty sizable and talented and I am sure with the aid of a more developed screenplay and more complex characters, they could have elevated the rather weak story above it's limitations.

As mentioned earlier, Jeff Bridges and Mary Louise Parker give reliably good performances and are clearly having fun with their roles; especially Bridges who relishes playing a wild west gun - slinging prospector. But unfortunately, they and the movie itself are bought down by Ryan Reynolds who fails to emote any energy or enthusiasm as the lead and Kevin Bacon who delivers an embarassingly bad turn as the main antagonist; failing to bring any sense of threat, danger or malice to the screen in any way at all. I like Kevin Bacon a lot, but he is probably the worst thing about the movie.

The special effects are beyond shoddy, the dialogue is terrible and the acting is a lot to be desired. So why am I not jumping down the throat of this movie like I did with 'Hansel & Gretel : Witch Hunters' and other poorly developed fare? Well the reason is simple; 'R.I.P.D.' knows who it's target audience is and aims straight at it's the heart; it doesn't aim any higher than the pre - pubescent demographic it was clearly made for. It doesn't try to impress the older members of the audience and it may be too violent and scary for more impressionable youngsters. Yes, it's total rubbish and has failed both critically and commercially and it is clear why. But if movies are going to made for the pre - adolescent boys of this world, I would much rather that there be more 'R.I.P.D.'s and less 'Transformers' or 'GI Joes'.