I liked Men in
Black. I liked Ghostbusters. I like Jeff Bridges, Ryan
Reynolds, and Kevin Bacon. R.I.P.D. is a mashup up of
Ghostbusters and Men in Black starring Jeff Bridges,
Ryan Reynolds, and Kevin Bacon. All the movie had to do to get me on
its side was not screw up.
R.I.P.D.
did not screw up.
Here's
the setup: Ryan Reynolds, a Boston cop of questionable moral
character, gets killed and assigned to the Police Department of the
Dead. A rookie on this new force, he gets partnered with Western
lawman Jeff Bridges (riffing on his True Grit
character) and is off to save the world.
From there, it's
one gag after another as the two cops face off against a panoply of
poorly-rendered CGI undead monsters. Wait – don't go away. The
poor rendering is a feature, not a bug. This is a lighthearted
comedy-horror-action picture, and the monsters' artificiality creates
sufficient distance to keep them more amusing than scary. I smiled,
I chuckled, I nodded along happily as I watched people I like fight
neat monsters in a movie that entertained me from beginning to end.
All this, and James
Hong to boot. What more could you ask for in your light summer
entertainment?
