The history of film is littered with ideas that sounded good in theory, but fumbled in practice. Take Renfield, for example - the idea of "Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his long-suffering assistant" sounds great, but Renfield's wildly inconsistent tone might have played a factor in its opening weekend. The same goes with 65, which is made all the more disappointing by the fact that it had Sam Raimi's producing power as well as the creative minds of Scott Beck & Bryan Woods of A Quiet Place behind it. But perhaps there's a lesson to be learned here: it's not enough to have a good idea, you also have to have all the right pieces in place to bring that idea to life. Otherwise, you get films like R.I.P.D.
What Is 'R.I.P.D.' About?
Based on the Dark Horse Comics miniseries by Peter M. Lenkov and Lucas Marangon, R.I.P.D. opens with the death of Detective Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds). Or so it seems. Nick is transported to the Rest In Peace Department, whose agents track down the souls of those who escaped heavenly justice. After they serve 100 years, they're allowed to pass on. Nick is partnered with fellow undead lawman Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges) and soon stumbles upon a conspiracy to assemble an artifact known as the Staff of Jericho. True to its Biblical namesake, it has immense power - in this case, the power to raise the dead themselves.
What Went Wrong With 'R.I.P.D.'?
Though it has an amazing premise and a top-notch cast, R.I.P.D. stumbles in several key areas. Chief among them is the half-hearted efforts, or sometimes lack thereof, to explain the mythology surrounding the world of the dead. For example, the "Deados" - the creatures that Nick and Roy are tracking down - don't possess much in the way of distinguishing characteristics. They all have the same build: hugely muscular with elongated limbs and decaying skin (that look extremely fake thanks to some unconvincing CGI.) Deados also have their supernatural nature revealed whenever they come into contact with Indian food. Why Indian food? Never explained!
There's also the fact that Nick and Roy are virtually immortal. Jumping off buildings, getting run over...nothing can hurt them because they're already dead. Again this is a fun concept, but it effectively saps the narrative of any stakes. How can the audience get invested in characters that can literally shrug off deadly events? Other action heroes like John Wick and Mission: Impossible's Ethan Hunt literally fighting for their lives; and even Superman bears a weakness in the form of Kryptonite!
But the biggest flaw is the tone. Nearly everyone, save for Reynolds and Bridges, is a snark machine. I'm not joking: 95% of the film features a pithy remark to the remarkable events going on around them. On the one hand, I understand why this was the case. These characters are centuries old and virtually immortal; after a while you get used to certain things. But that flippant attitude strips away a lot of the wonder from this world, making it hard for audiences to get invested.
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'R.I.P.D.' Is Too Similar to Its Comps, For the Wrong Reasons
As you may have guessed, R.I.P.D. wasn't a big hit. It was one of the biggest box office bombs of 2013, grossing a mere $78 million against a $130+ million production budget. Reviews weren't kind, either. Many critics lambasted the wasted potential while also pointing out one major thing: R.I.P.D. bore plot elements that were similar to Men in Black or Ghostbusters. But once again the difference lies in the execution.
In Men in Black and Ghostbusters, quite a bit of humor is mined with the heroes going up against extraterrestial & paranormal threats, respectively. The difference between those films and R.I.P.D. is that there's actual jokes being told. There's no hip, cool, "I'm above it all: snark in either of those films - it's genuinely funny to see Agent J (Will Smith) being thrashed by an expectant alien mother or Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) getting "slimed". MIB and Ghostbusters also take the time to flesh out their world, to the point where film fans understand why it's a bad idea to cross proton streams or the destructive power of a Noisy Cricket.
The biggest element that makes MIB and Ghostbusters work is the chemistry between the stars. Smith's J plays the wisecracking rookie to Tommy Lee Jones' straightlaced K, and the end result is one of the best odd couples to ever grace an action/sci-fi film. Ditto for the ensemble of Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Akroyd and the late, great Harold Ramis; part of what makes Ghostbusters' final fight so great is the banter among everyone. In contrast, Reynolds and Bridges never click. Part of it is that Reynolds excels far better at wisecracking than playing the straight man, and the rest lies in Bridges essentially playing a live-action Foghorn Leghorn.
'R.I.P.D.'s Failed Attempts To Start a Franchise
Like most films nowadays, Universal Pictures puts its hopes in R.I.P.D. starting a franchise, launching a prequel animated short alongside a third-person shooter video game. The game met a similar critical reception as its film adapation, but the animated short features a lot of promise. Reynolds and Bridges actually feel like partners, and there's more variety in the Deados they encounter. It's enough to make a viewer wish that R.I.P.D. was an animated series instead of a movie - the source material does feel better suited for TV.
Surprisingly, R.I.P.D. recieved a prequel in the form of the direct to video R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned. This time around, Rise of the Dammed focused on Roy's early days with the R.I.P.D. This time around, Jeffery Donovan stepped into Roy's Stetson and longcoat, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. The effects are even more garish due to a reduced budget, and the attempts at humor grate. This is one franchise that should take advice from its title and rest in peace.
R.I.P.D. and R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned are available to stream on Netflix.
