Monthly Archives: October 2013
Giveaway Reminder (Info at bottom of old release announcment.)
We review R.I.P.D. – Amazon Streaming – A M.I.B./True Grit crossover that has its moments. – MR
We review
R.I.P.D.
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![]() Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Robert Schwentke |
Produced by | Neal H. Moritz Mike Richardson David Dobkin Peter M. Lenkov |
Screenplay by | Phil Hay Matt Manfredi |
Story by | David Dobkin Phil Hay Matt Manfredi |
Based on | Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov |
Starring | Jeff Bridges Ryan Reynolds Kevin Bacon Mary-Louise Parker Stephanie Szostak |
Music by | Christophe Beck[1] |
Cinematography | Alwin Küchler |
Editing by | Mark Helfrich |
Studio | Original Film Relativity Media Dark Horse Entertainment |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures[2] |
Release date(s) |
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Running time | 96 minutes[3] |
Country | United States[2] |
Language | English |
Budget | $130 million[4][5] |
Box office | $75,218,855[5] |
R.I.P.D. is a 2013 3D American[2] supernatural comedy film directed by Robert Schwentke,[6] based on the comic book Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov and published by Dark Horse Entertainment. The film stars Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges as Nick Walker and Roy Pulsipher, respectively.
Filming was completed on January 28, 2012,[7] and the film was originally set to be released on June 28, 2013[8] in United States by Universal Pictures but was pushed back to July 19, 2013. The film received negative reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office.
Plot
Boston Police Department Detectives Nick Walker and Bobby Hayes stole a chest full of gold found during a drug bust, and Nick buries his share of the gold in his backyard, intending to use it to create a better life for himself and his wife, Julia. However, he regrets his decision and informs Hayes he intends to return the gold. Later, during a raid on a warehouse, Nick and Hayes get into a shootout with criminals, and Hayes kills Nick to prevent him from returning the gold, framing one of the criminals for the murder.
While ascending through a tunnel in the sky to the afterlife, Nick is pulled into the office of Mildred Proctor, director of the Boston division of the Rest In Peace Department (R.I.P.D.), an agency that recruits deceased police officers to patrol the afterlife and capture “Deados”, spirits that failed to cross over and return to Earth as monstrous ghosts. Nick agrees to join the R.I.P.D. after Proctor explains that it would stave off a potentially negative final judgment for at least a century, and meets his new partner, Roy Pulsipher, an ex-U.S. Marshal who lived in the 1800s.
Nick and Roy return to Earth to attend Nick’s funeral, where Nick learns R.I.P.D. officers are assigned avatars, which is how humans perceive them. Nick’s is an elderly Chinese man, Jerry Chen and Roy’s is an attractive Russian woman, Opal Pavlenko. After failing to communicate with Julia, Nick accompanies Roy to the apartment of a suspect, Stanley Nawlicki, who tries to escape and is killed by the duo. Pieces of gold identical to the ones Nick stole are found in Nawlicki’s possessions and logged into evidence.
Nick and Roy then meet with Elliot, a dealer set to make an exchange with someone, revealed to be Hayes. Nick and Roy follow him to Nick’s house, where Hayes retrieves Nick’s share of the gold, leading Julia to believe Nick was corrupt. From there, the duo tails Hayes to an abandoned warehouse where he gives the gold to a Deado, Pulaski, who escapes and causes enough destruction due to Nick and Roy’s intervention that it makes national news. Proctor, infuriated, takes them off the case, but they decide to continue the investigation on their own after learning the pieces of golds are components of the Staff of Jericho, a mystic device that could reverse the tunnel that transports the dead into the afterlife, returning them to Earth.
Our Thoughts:
Jeff Bridges’s voice was annoying for the first half of the movie, and then by the time it grew on me, Kevin Bacon’s voice turned annoying. Besides that gripe, I liked this sci-fi/action/thriller/cop/drama/ mash-up…lol. Ryan Reynolds is good, as are the other actors. This isn’t too much like Men in Black or Ghostbusters, but if you liked either of those movies, this is right up your alley. It lacked that spark of life that makes a movie like this a blockbuster, but it was still good fun and somewhat original. It has its moments. 4 stars – MR
Find R.I.P.D. at Amazon