R.I.P.D. Review
RYAN: R.I.P.D. stands for Rest in Peace Department and it stars Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges in a sort of fantasy, Men in Black meets Beetlejuice meets buddy cop comedy. And it’s not that entertaining or even comedic.
ERIN: I couldn’t tell from the trailer whether it would stink or be great and I’m sorry to say that it stinks. It’s disappointing.
RYAN: I actually liked the trailer and was rooting for this film. But knowing that it was screening so late in the week for press was a bad sign. The problem with it is that it is very immature. The tone, story, concept and articulation seems like young-boy-movie. BIt’s PG-13 but boys 10-15 would probably dig this and U don’t know anyone else who would.
ERIN: It’s stupid humor.
RYAN: Or it would be a really great video game.
ERIN: Yeah I could see that. I didn’t get it. I kept wondering what the point of it was.
RYAN: Yes what is the point? I think you got it – we know it’s about dead cops fighting bad guys in purgatory, but it just doesn’t go the distance. The premise is intriguing but the way it unfolds doesn’t win.
ERIN: The comedy doesn’t work. It’s, like you said, for young teenage boys who think Marisa Miller is hot.
RYAN: She is hot.
ERIN: She’s beautiful.
RYAN: It’s good people in a bad movie. I like this cast – Ryan, Jeff, Kevin Bacon, and Mary Louise Parker who is a scene stealer.
ERIN: I just couldn’t understand Jeff Bridges for the life of me.
RYAN: Thank you! He mumbled through the whole thing, you’re right! You totally leaned over a few times to ask what he was saying and I couldn’t even figure it out half the time. And I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to be. He’s actually mumbling poorly.
ERIN: I thought there was something wrong with his tongue.
RYAN: It’s one thing to use a character voice when you’re acting, but to literally make it so out there that it’s unintelligible, is unacceptable. There were some cool visual components with snap zooms.
ERIN: I laughed a couple times but it didn’t save it.
RYAN: The effects were cheap too. They look really cartoony. All of the animated monsters – granted CGI humans are the hardest things to look realistic – but they certainly didn’t. They all look like the troll from the first Harry Potter movie.
ERIN: Right. But it wasn’t meant to be like an Avatar.
RYAN: The 3D was okay though.
ERIN: Why did these actors do this?
RYAN: It’s called a paycheck.
ERIN: It just seems like the filmmakers gave up on it at some point.
RYAN: It should have been edgier and cooler. It’s like when a scary movie isn’t scary – this is a comedy that’s corny.
