Recycled fun. That’s the name of the game when it comes to R.I.P.D. Take a scene of The Avengers, throw in a plot point from The Dark Knight, add a full-on Coens’ Rooster Cogburn impersonation and mix it all together in Men in Black‘s central idea. And voila, you have R.I.P.D.
Robert Schwentke (director of the extremely entertaining and surprisingly successful Red) once again tries to coast off of the charisma of his leading actors. And when the leading actors are Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, that charisma can carry the film a long way. The sheer enjoyment of watching the leading duo, combined with the comfy familiarity and easily digestible material, leads for a night of recycled fun at the movies.
Reynolds and Bridges toss zingers back and forth at each other with a pace that is almost as quick as the action-packed movie itself. The film wastes no time setting up the plot. It dives headfirst into the action with the death of Ryan Reynolds’ character, Nick Walker, only minutes into the movie. Walker is then promptly taken up to that big police department in the sky (the Rest in Peace Department, wink, wink) and is assigned to his native Boston division. Walker is assigned a partner, the grizzled chatterbox lawman Roy Pulsipher, who was literally lifted straight from the Old West. Their personalities clash and hilarity ensues, same as any other buddy cop film.
Mary-Louise Parker (playing a high-ranking official for the R.I.P.D. named Proctor) more than holds her own with Reynolds and Bridges. The films’ marketing team also made the fascinating decision to give hardly any press to Kevin Bacon, who had a fairly big role as Reynold’s real-world cop partner. It was one of the many things that caught me off guard about the movie in a positive way.
What worked just as well as the headliners was the fact that it was over in less than 100 minutes. The effectively short running time and the rushed approach to pacing help save the film from feeling like a lesser product. R.IP.D. benefits greatly from its heightened sense of brevity.
All in all, R.I.P.D. is a glaring example of how your mind should never be made up about a film, especially in a negative light, before you even arrive at the theater. I try to always give the movie I am watching the benefit of the doubt. R.I.P.D. took that benefit and ran with it. I enjoyed the whirlwind of a ride. If you are looking for a fun, stylish B-movie for a lazy summer afternoon or bored late evening, then R.I.P.D. will more than suffice.