Universal Pictures, Original Film, Dark Horse Entertainment,
Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak, James Hong, Marisa Miller, Robert Knepper, Mike O’Malley, Devin Ratray, Larry Joe Campbell
Recently deceased cop Nick finds himself at a crossroads. His only valid choice is to agree to join the Rest In Peace Department, an after death police squad and return to earth to help find and convict his murderer. But he’s obviously not allowed to look like himself, because it might scare anyone who knew him, so he appears as an old Asian guy and is partnered with rough veteran dead policeman Roy (Jeff Bridges) who’s been dead a long time, but knows the ropes. What follows is a buddy cop action adventure comedy.
I had visions of Men in Black and Beetlejuice in my mind as I watched the previews of this movie, but when I watched it I was kind of disappointed. It’s definitely a knock of of those two movies, but not as good as either one of them. There are a few chuckles here and there, but it did not capture my attention at all. Having been anxious to watch this, perhaps that’s why I was let down, because my expectations were too high. Perhaps if you set out with low expectations and expect a little time burning comedy action flick with the twist that the main characters are already dead, you can enjoy it better, but I did expect more bang for the buck. Jeff Bridges is adequate as the old veteran burned out cop having a lot of tricks under his sleeve based upon his long existence and experience. Ryan Reynolds did not hit the mark with his performance. Given the fact that he came from the police force in life, he should have had the skills to be an R.I.P.D. cop, but he struggles to keep up throughout the film. Basically, unless you’re willing to accept the lack of a script and the bad performances and bad jokes that come this it, this is a good film to skip and keep looking for something a bit better for your time.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
