R.I.P.D.

At first it was Tommy Lee Jones & Will Smith who took us through 3 movies where they save us all from the “Scum of the Earth”.  Apparently there are people out there who believe that despite the success of the franchise, there is space for yet another bunch of guys who can save the earth from aliens… or should I say, the Undead.  In this case, they are cornily called, “DEADDOES”.

So, what are the similarities between The Rest in Peace Department (RIPD) and Men in Black? For starters, you have a senior guy teaming up with a Rookie.  In this case, its Roy (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger who gets killed on the job who is paired with Nick (Ryan Reynolds), a cop who gets killed by his partner Hayes (Kevin Bacon).  Hayes & Nick were stashing away some gold that they steal from a crime scene

Next up, we have all sorts of normal people who morph into Deaddoes when they are presented with a weakness that only the RIPD is aware of.  The Deaddoes are surprisingly similar to the aliens in MIB.  Of course, unlike cockroaches and worms and slime spitting aliens in MIB, we have wall climbing, larger than life and ugly as hell deaddoes if that makes a difference.

Next, there is a white set up that’s in between apparent heaven and earth.  One that is managed by Procter (Mary-Louise Parker) who is in charge of new recruits and assigning partners.  There is also a full-fledged office where all data is stored after collection.  No indication of where the deaddoes are kept though.  Or maybe I missed it.

The first and hopefully the last installment of R.I.P.D. gives you nothing much to look forward to.  Primarily because some smarter people had done the damage over the past decade and ensured that no one else can come close to it.  If I were Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, Red, Time Traveller’s Wife), I would have probably not done R.I.P.D. in the first place.

There was no way R.I.P.D. would have been a hit at the BO and it comes with no fault from Schwentke.  The story is just not up there.  And the only thing that you could probably look forward to is the hotness of one Marissa Miller who plays Roy’s Avatar – what the rest of the world can see.  No point in really wasting your time with this one.  Saving grace – it is well made.  5 on 10.

Watch the movie on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1741202969/?ref_=tt_ov_vi