RIPD (3D)-Movie Review

RATING- 3 STAR

Director: Robert Schwentke

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak, James Hong and Marissa Miller

What do you get when you mix MIB (Men in Black) with Steam-punk Cowboy themes and the undead? RIPD. There’s a lot of borrowed-ness in this film. And sadly that’s not always a good thing. This big ticket movie just looks too much like MIB. Sure Robert Schwentke brings his characteristic vision to some scenes. But then this thinly scripted movie doesn’t allow its director or its leads any worthy opportunity.

The action’s not all that bad in RIPD. You’ve got two charismatic actors – Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds on top of their game. But even then you feel there could’ve have been so much more. The premise seems fun. A dead cop on his way to heavenly judgment is pulled from the portal of floating dead people and put in a police questioning room. He’s told he has the right skills to make it to the RIPD – the Rest In Peace Department. The perk is, he postpones his judgment day and goes back to earth to apprehend on the run dead folks. He’s partnered with a cowboy cop who’s been serving at RIPD since its inception. They make an unlikely team and that’s where the action begins.

Action comedies are generally tricky territory. While director Schwentke pulled off his last endeavor in the genre, Red with aplomb. This time he succumbs to working on a template. The movie looks and feels like it’s gearing for this big bang end. And even when the much-anticipated climax arrives it doesn’t quite hold your attention. Kevin Bacon plays the bad guy and all through the film creates a sense of mystery about his motives. But in the end his menace turns out to be anti-climactic. Come on! A guy who’s spent five years fooling everyone in living and dead Boston can do better than rely on a human shield as his final plan.

Ditto sentiments for Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. Bridges looks like he’s repeating his Rooster Cogburn act from True Grit (2010). He’s funny on occasions but it looks all too familiar when he’s not being trigger happy and fighting the bad guys. Reynolds too looks like he’s still borrowing notes from Hal Jordon in Green Lantern and Matt Weston in Safe House. But what’s truly funny is that Bridges and Reynolds have avatars when they get back to Earth. So that people may not recognize them, Bridges has the identity of a super-hot blonde played by Marissa Miller and Reynolds is an old chinese man played by James Hong.