RIPD

Year of release : 2013

Run time : 1h36min

Genre : Supernatural Action

Cast : Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker

RIPD stands for 'Rest in Peace Department' and is as confusing for me as it is for you. Because they do anything but rest in peace!

The movie is based on the 1999 comic book of the same name, written by Peter M.Lenkov.

Boston police detectives Nick and Bobby steal a stash of gold during a drug bust. Nick hides it under an orange tree he bought for his wife, and regrets stealing it. He tells his partner he's out,and that he is putting his share in evidence, and although his partner seems to be Ok with it, and feeling the same, he shoots him on their next drug bust.

The world stands still and Nick is raised to the sky,ending up in an office. The woman there tells him he's dead, and he was selected to become a RIPD detective, to find and capture Deados,the souls of people who died but escaped judgment.

Nick becomes the partner of Roicephus Pulsipher (I think it was supposed to be funny), a lawman from the Old West who was shot by his partner,and had to watch his body being eaten by coyotes,and not only (I think that was supposed to be funny too).

On their first mission together, Nick notices the Deado is trying to keep the same kind of gold safe,and starts getting suspicious.

The movie felt like a Men in Black and Ghostbusters rip off. The movie is labeled as comedy but the only time I laughed was when Marissa Miller appeared on screen. After an hour I got so bored, I felt like changing the channel.

Not a shock, the movie was a flop, grossing 78 million dollars against a 154 million budget,being destroyed by critics.

The actors were somewhat fine, but annoying. Even the leads were annoying me. I think Jeff Bridges was supposed to be funny but wasn't. Also, I'm sick of seeing Kevin Bacon playing the bad guy, at this point whenever I see him, I'm like, he's the villain,and I'm correct! Speaking of Kevin,he was the only one in the movie who didn't annoy me, and who's acting I actually liked. Ryan Reynolds doesn't have much range as an actor.

Marissa Miller makes a cameo as she is how Jeff Bridges' character appears to the living. Speaking of which, I didn't understand why they had to have avatars,when they could have just not been seen by people or just not be recognizable!

RIPD does not believe in digitalization as they like to do everything the old way,or worse, write everything in drawings,like for kids,sent in canisters down a pipe,which was ridiculous! Being in the afterlife, they could have had cool powers,like be able to read each other's mind when they wanted,like communicate telepathically,or be connected to the source which could have given them the information that way! The movie was just ridiculous!

The visual effects were at the Men in Black level,meaning they were bad, the creatures were ugly and looked like a cartoon.

I didn't like the soundtrack. When Nick is in the afterlife office for the first time, you can't even hear the song he's talking about!

The movie received negative reviews, having one of the lowest rating score, and was a box office flop, grossing 78 million dollars against a budget close to 154 million.

The movie even has a videogame released the same year, called RIPD The Game, although some critics called it one of the worst comic book adaptations .

 

The movie is 30 days free on Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video with Ads; 7 days free on Paramount+ on AppleTv Channel, Paramount+ Premium, Paramount+ Basic with Ads; for rent / sale on Amazon, AppleTv, Fandango at Home.

Rating : Could have been a contender !