R.I.P.D. is exactly what it looks like. A fully predictable yet freakishly bonkers movie that seems born of some kind of brainstorming L.S.D. session that then got distracted by the power of CGI pixels rather than story. The movie opens with a cop Nick Walker (Reynolds), having an argument with his partner, Bobby Hayes (Bacon), over whether or not to turn in gold they found at a recent drug bust. Walker is immediately killed by Hayes during a shootout.
Nick is recruited by the RIDP. On arrival he is greeted by the Proctor, played by Mary Louise Parker, who is easily the best part of the movie. She plays the part completely straight yet brings this scary yet perky character to life with loads of offbeat lines.
The R.I.P.D. specializes in catching 'deados', which are renegade spirits who roam the Earth and have an extreme aversion to Indian food. Nick is now demoted back to rookie status as he is the department's newest arrival. and in typical M.I.B style he is partnered with legendary gunslinger and R.I.P.D. veteran sour puss Roy Pulsifer (Jeff Bridges ).
I actually enjoyed the first half of the movie due to the chemistry between sad cupcake Reynolds and cartoon cowboy Bridges. It is just a shame that they never build that relationship up. You're introduced to some fun concepts like how the characters look different in the living world so as not to cause suspicion. The concepts for the deados are pretty cool but, in comparison, it is disappointing that the afterlife police officers are a tad dull. It just looks like someone installed bright white lights to symbolize that this is meant to be the good side. Mix that together with some truly over the top action scenes and the first half is solid fun.
After that the movie flatlines. All that energy just runs out as the story becomes boring and predictable. You’re left watching action scenes that don't really serve a purpose, unless that purpose was to show of the power of pixelated mayhem. That would have been cool if I where living in 2001 again. R.I.P.D has the same problem Star Wars Episode 1 suffered from. It has overuse of computers to create characters and worlds that look like a unicorn threw up pixelated rainbows everywhere. I wish they had spent more of the budget on creating a visual unique world. All you're left with is Bridges and Reynolds fighting a bunch lifeless CGI deados.
At the end of the day R.I.P.D relied too heavily on pretty shiny things to tell a story. The acting wasn't Oscar worthy but they did a very good job in their respective roles, it wasn't the funniest thing I've ever seen but I did laugh on the odd occasion. I am sure if this was made in the 80’s it would have been a fun romp through the afterlife, but there are far too many movies around today that look better and tell a better story.
2 and half pixelated sad Ryan Reynolds waffles out of 5
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