R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D is not the most original summer film out there. In fact, it’s pretty formulaic with the weary and hardboiled veteran who is partnered with a know-nothing rookie who find themselves embroiled in the biggest case of their career. They try, fail, and get reprimanded by their superiors only to ignore orders and go on a rampage of mass destruction to succeed despite the odds. If the plot seems rather familiar, then you’ve undoubtedly seen 48 Hours, Men in Black, Lethal Weapon, Red Heat … the list goes on and on.

It’s basic, but it works. R.I.P.D is not going to win awards and commendations but it manages it’s goal; to entertain us guys sufficiently while we’re watching with it’s low brow humor, hijinks, and lots of explosions while it’s playing. Hey, we’ve got low amusement thresholds.

About the only thing that it has going for it is that it’s got a funky supernatural element thrown in that the main characters, Marshal Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges) and Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds) are deceased law enforcement officers given a chance to earn some extra credit on their records. Hopefully enough to win a chance at redemption and Heaven when their tour of duty as supernatural officers over escaped souls is over. It helps ramp up the interesting quotient in the story which otherwise is fairly predictable otherwise.

Otherwise, the main actors are the sole bright spot of the film. Jeff Bridges (Marshal Roy Pulsipher) is as always pretty good in his role and his character is actually pretty funny with his old fashioned Western quips. Ryan Reynolds (Nick Walker) was very solid in his performance as well; as a character who is tormented by his past life that he’s having a hard time letting go particularly his widowed wife and his scumbag dirty cop of partner Kevin Bacon (Bobby Hayes) who secretly killed Walker. And Kevin Bacon is fairly good in his role as bad guy, showing his tremendous range as an actor. He's evil but not stereotypically so and I also liked Mary Louise Parker (Procter) in her brief scenes as well.

The special effects however were the real surprise. For a summer blockbuster (or an attempt at one), I was expecting some gosh-darned amazing CGI and F/X. This movie however had some decent ones, but not as spectacular as you usually would expect in these films; obviously the budget was not quite as generous in the special effects as the rest. I get the feeling that they scrimped on them. The supernatural weapons that Walker and Pulsipher wielded just did not come off as visually effective and I also felt that a lot of the ‘Dead-os’ could have definitely been improved upon in terms of looks, particularly Kevin Bacon’s. The climatic effects at the end was also a bit of a letdown. I know, usually the special effects is the main selling feature of these summer movies.

R.I.P.D is a movie that you can definitely wait to watch until it’s on TV for free or to rent, but I wouldn’t recommend that you will feel the need to own it. It’s a lot like Men in Black with The Mummy or Ghostbusters feel to it.

RATING: 2 and 1/2 STARS