R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned [2022]

February 8, 2023

I had zero expectations when I played this movie. In fact, my expectations were less than a zero, I thought that this is going to be another barely watchable crappy sequel. However, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned turned out to be a solid supernatural adventure worth watching. The only two things I remember from the original are Jeff Bridges and fancy special effects. R.I.P.D. is a 2013 movie also starring Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon. It’s based on a graphic novel and it features an authentic visual style.

When it comes to the story, it’s basically a supernatural buddy cop movie. And while it definitely looks better than this budget sequel, it’s equally forgettable. R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned is set during the Wild West era and you can look at it as a western with a supernatural twist. I like western movies with any kind of twists, especially if they take them into scary waters. I guess Bone Tomahawk is a good example of that while Cowboys and Aliens shows another, flashier side of that bargain. Here, we will be following Sheriff Roy Pulsipher who after an altercation with a local gang teams up with a mysterious stranger to get to the bottom of the issue.

Once more we have this buddy cop atmosphere only this time set against the backdrop of the Wild West. And I know what you’re thinking, this sounds awfully like Wild Wild West starring Will Smith. And you’re right, it does sound like that movie. When it comes to the production values, they’re solid, so don’t be expecting some SyFy shit out of this movie.

Moreover, the CGI was pretty awesome and believable. It was just a couple of notches down from blockbuster levels, something I didn’t expect from a straight-to-video production. Is that term still valid, straight-to-video? Perhaps, straight-to-streaming is more appropriate nowadays. Anyways, it was the quality of the CGI that I saw in the trailer that convinced me to check out this movie.

It is the year of our lord Astaroth 1876 and all is well in the little town of Red Creek, Utah. However, not for long as evil forces are plotting to take over the world. And they choose Red Creek as their starting point. Meanwhile, Sheriff Roy Pulsipher is happy to finally meet his daughter’s fiancé. And just as they were getting to know each other, bandits attack the train station. They’re led by a ruthless and mysterious stranger who seems to be rounding up the locals and sending them to work in an abandoned mine…

Now, the dialogue in R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned could have been much better. Some of the jokes are cringy and some of the forced twists eye-rolling. But considering that this is just a forgettable distraction, these are all forgivable offenses. Jeffrey Donovan whom I thought the whole time was Rob McElhenney, was excellent and his charismatic performance made the movie that much more enjoyable. Richard Brake made another creepy appearance and Penelope Mitchell is starting to get into the groove of things.

All in all, everybody did their best, trying to make the most out of this quite mediocre experience. This is why little things like the dig and the people around it annoy me. I mean, this guy is making people dig but you can’t see any of it! Just dig a fucking hole or something to make this believable! No amount of decent CGI can make up for the fact that some scenes haven’t been thought through. And it was so easy to fix these errors in pre-production. At least the final fight between our two heroes and Astaroth was good.