[Movie Review] R.I.P.D. (2013)

Posted on July 19, 2013 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 1 Comment

Plot Summary: A recently slain cop joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him.

Director: Robert Schwentke

Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, David Dobkin

Runtime: 96 min

Main Cast:

Jeff Bridges as Roy Pulsipher
Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker
Kevin Bacon as Bobby Hayes
Mary-Louise Parker as Proctor
Stephanie Szostak as Julia Walker

Review: by Anthony and Lee

At first glance we thought this would be just another sci-fi "Buddy Cop" movie like the Men In Black movies. The trailers hit all of the major checkpoints: a prickly, grizzled veteran paired with a still wet behind the ears new guy, a corny organization abbreviation, and an all-important fight to protect humans from an out-of-this-world enemy. However, there were some points in the movie's favor: the monsters designed by the same man who designed the kaiju in Pacific Rim, Ryan Reynolds and the possibility he would take his shirt off (Lee), and Jeff Bridges.

What We Liked:

R.I.P.D. passed the Buddy Cop test within a reasonable margin of error. It was not the best Buddy Cop movie, but it certainly wasn’t terrible. It blew The Heat out of the water in that regard.

Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds are both skilled at portraying the kind of humor featured in the movie. The delivery seemed very natural for both of them. Jeff Bridges was great, by the way. His character was absolutely hilarious.

The running joke about the R.I.P.D. officers’ new physical appearances was one of the best in the movie, and they really played it up. Ryan Reynolds as an old, Asian gentleman was great, but the real comedy came in the form of Jeff Bridges as a very chesty blonde bombshell.

There was a good mix of plot, filler, and action. The movie wasn’t non-stop action, non-stop character/plot development, or non-stop seemingly unrelated gags (like Grown Ups 2).

While the movie was entirely based around the afterlife, it stayed away from the touchy subject of religion. It is always far too easy to get just plain offensive with movies that have even the most remote religious connections, but R.I.P.D. handled the issue fairly well.

What We Didn’t Like:

Mary-Louise Parker. Seriously, we’re not sure if she is a poor actor or just really good at being a bad character. Either way, we did not appreciate scenes with her in them.

Mike O’Malley’s role was far too small.

Kevin Bacon was wasted in this role, as he was in Hollow Man. They could have hired any old actor to play his role. He must have just needed the money. He didn’t even seem to put much effort into it.

The actual plot of the movie was rather basic.

2.8

Summary

It was better than we expected it to be. That isn’t saying much, but it wasn’t terrible.

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