20141005: Fantasy Review--RIPD

RIPD

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, PG13, 96 minutes, fantasy, mystery.
2. IMDB: 5.6/10.0 from 70,211 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 130 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 13% on the meter; 39% liked it from 80,526 audience ratings.
4. I saw this on HBO.
5. Directed by:  Robert Schwentke
6. Starring: Ryan Reynolds as Nick, Jeff Bridges as Roy, Mary-Louise Parker as Proctor, Kevin Bacon as Hayes, James Hong as Nick's avatar, Marisa Miller as Roy's avatar.


2. Setup and Plot
1. At the outset, Nick and Hayes are partners on the Boston police force.  During a large drug raid, Hayes frags Nick.  Rather than going downward in the afterlife, Nick is offered a slot in the RIPD (Rest in Peace Department).  His job is to round up (or destroy), spirits that refuse to go up or down after death.  These targets are dubbed 'deadons' for historical reasons, no doubt.


2. Nick is teamed with Roy, an old-fashioned Western marshal type.  Both of them have avatars that normal living humans see.  Nick's avatar is an elderly Chinese man, while Roy's is a blonde woman with a lush physique.


3. In one of their early cases together, the pair find some gold with odd markings on it.  This in turn, is related to some human-deadon smuggling operations.  They discover that Hayes is involved in this traffic, and Nick is naturally eager to pursue this, especially since he was unintentionally part of this before Hayes shot him.


4. Word comes down from on high that the gold pieces are part of a magical artifact of considerable danger to the upper realm and the human realm.  If the deadons manage to get all the gold together and construct the artifact, real problems will start. As an extra, Roy and Nick are kicked off the case.


5. How do our blundering heroes redeem themselves, or do they?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Not quite funny enough derivative apocalyptic film.
2. Six of ten


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 7/10 SFX were OK but not spectacular.  Also, several of the climatic scenes were too much like Ghostbusters.


2. Sound: 6/10 Sound was not used well enough to heighten tension or to underscore comedy.


3. Acting: 7/10 Reynolds, Bridges, Parker, and Bacon were fine.  I think a better script could have produced a much better film with this level of actors.


4. Screenplay: 4/10 I wish it had been more funny.  Some of the film reminded me too much of Ghostbusters without as much enjoyment.