R.I.P.D.

 

Publicity poster for R.I.P.D. (© Robert Schwentke/Dark Horse Entertainment/Original Film/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

My movie watch on 27 August 2022 was the totally zany supernatural/comedy movie R.I.P.D., which was inspired by the Dark Horse comic of the same name written by Peter Lenkov.

Directed by Robert Schwentke, and released in 2013 by Universal Pictures, R.I.P.D. begins both dramatically and unexpectedly – with the death of its lead character! Boston police detective Nick Walker (played by Ryan Reynolds) is murdered in cold blood by his corrupt partner Bobby Hayes (Kevin Bacon) after Nick decides to hand in some gold that they had secretly found during a recent drug bust.

However, as this would be a very short and singularly pointless movie if that were the end of it, we swiftly discover that a radically new plot is about to unfurl. For the now newly-deceased Nick finds himself transported up through a divine vortex into an afterlife where he faces two choices – judgement, or joining the Boston division of a celestial police corp known as the R.I.P.D. (Rest In Peace Department).

Choosing the latter (as he is by no means certain that his life had been acceptable enough for him to pass the former!), Nick is assigned an older, more experienced, but somewhat ornery partner, Roy Pulsifer (Jeff Bridges, after original choice Zack Galifianakis turned it down due to a prior filming commitment). For Roy is still very much the Wild West lawman that he was when alive a century ago (until he too was murdered by his own evil partner).

Nick learns from Roy that the R.I.P.D. covertly exists on Earth to seize and if necessary erase Deados – evil souls who have deliberately escaped judgement. Deados appear totally human to normal living persons, but if challenged by an R.I.P.D. officer they 'pop' into their true form, which is usually monstrous.

While tracking down Deados with Roy, Nick finds out that Bobby has discovered the gold that he had planned to hand in, and is also in cahoots with various Deados, leading Nick to suspect that Bobby may be more than he appears to be. Sure enough, Bobby is subsequently exposed as a Deado himself, and the gold that he has been collecting constitutes the final portion of an ancient device known as the Staff of Jericho.

Moreover, when it is fully assembled this immensely powerful Staff will reverse the vortex that Nick and all other dead souls have passed through from Earth to the afterlife, resulting in the dead travelling back to Earth, which in turn will be totally overwhelmed. So Nick and Roy now face a critical race against time to prevent Bobby from activating the Staff of Jericho and destroying the land of the living.

R.I.P.D. is extremely entertaining – apart from when my DVD stuck at the 50-minute mark and required a wipe with washing-up liquid to unstick it, I never took my eyes off this movie once. Think of a mash-up of Men In Black and Ghostbusters, but funnier than both, and you have R.I.P.D.

Indeed, my only criticism re this movie was that Roy's Old West accent as supplied by Bridges was so thick as to be incomprehensible to me at times, so I missed out on quite a few of his wisecracks, but otherwise R.I.P.D. was a delight, with excellent CGI effects.

There is also a wonderful running joke concerning the fact that in order to avoid being recognised by their still-living family, friends, and others who knew them when they were alive, all R.I.P.D. officers assume a drastically-different set appearance when pursuing Deados back on Earth. In Nick's case, it is an elderly Chinese man, whereas in Roy's it is, incongruously, an incredibly beautiful, voluptuous young woman with long blonde hair! Cue some hilarious interactions between them and members of the general public along the way, especially when they encounter Roy's alluring avatar!

Plus, any comedy film with Ryan Reynolds in it has to be good – in fact, I've never yet seen an R.R. movie of any genre that I haven't enjoyed (blatant plug here for Deadpool!). Conversely, the critics apparently hated R.I.P.D. – but for me this was actually another reliable indication that I'd like it, and which was duly confirmed yet again! Moreover, a sequel, provisionally titled R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, is currently in development by Universal, so they clearly have faith in its success.

If you'd like to check out the Rest In Peace Department's afterlife activities for yourself, be sure to click here to watch an official R.I.P.D. trailer – it's dead funny (sorry!). And click here to view a trailer-length animated back story for Roy – how he came to be killed by his own deceiving original partner way out West.

To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.