R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned

It's 1876 in the American West. Sheriff Roy Pulsipher (Jeffrey Donovan) dies in a shootout with bandits leaving behind his daughter Charlotte. In the afterlife, he is recruited by the Rest In Peace Department to fight the Deados. Jeanne (Penelope Mitchell) is his new work partner.

The first movie was almost universally panned and a box office bomb. I don't like that movie, but probably not as much as most others. I am surprised that they are making a sequel. They obviously downgraded the budget and the production. It's better than a TV movie, but sometimes it reminds me of one. I like the afterlife world, but the movie deteriorates after that. I don't like the old west world. It's too clean. It all feels fake and that's considering that I know it's all fake. The CGI is a bit of a mixed bag. The acting is also mixed. I really don't like the constant switching between the characters and their avatars. There has to be a way to fix that for the franchise. Maybe the avatars are only shown in mirrors. Mostly, I don't like this old west world and that's most of the movie.

I'm somewhat impartial as I did enjoy the original RIPD despite its bad reviews. However, when I heard the sequel/prequel was made, and that it was a direct market release, I wasn't expecting too much. The movie does lag at times, and certainly doesn't have the cinematic feel of the first movie. However, it's entertaining and if you're not too hard on it somewhat enjoyable. There are some very self-aware parts that tend to grind on you, but other than that, it's what you would expect from the type of movie it is. I would say it's worth looking at if you have some time and if you enjoyed the original, it's not a bad addition.

Aside from the main character being a younger incarnation of Roy from the original "R. I. P. D." and the overarching theme of the cops vs the "Deados", this shares little with the first move. Different actors, cheezy plot, poorly written script... it just FEELS cheap. It almost feels as if this is the result of an elementary school script writing contest. You can miss seeing chunks of this for a bathroom break, or a run for some snacks, and you'll never know it. It is THAT predictable.

No offense intended to Jeff Donovan (Roy Pulsipher). When you're handed a bucket of icky smelling mud, there's only so much you can do with it.

Stay home. Watch the original R. I. P. D. It's MUCH better, and your brain will thank you for it.

I have been an admirer of Jeffrey Donovan ever since the Burn Notice. I have to admit that this movie is a major disappointment, and compared to the first part this one is quite boring and will likely make you fall asleep somewhere around the middle. However the part that I liked was Jeffrey Donovan's cowboy/macho performance that fits this movie perfectly, I can't shake the feeling that the rest of the cast and the movie itself just didn't match his ambitions and performance to make this movie at least a fun watch. So if you appreciate his work and some earlier roles(especially Burn Notice) give this movie a chance, if not skip it because he is the only thing worth watching here.

Why did they change Roy's back story? His story in the first movie was that his body was drug off by coyotes. The coyotes then had thier way with his skull. Are we to believe the townsfolk or his daughter never found his body? And what did he continue to age after joining the ripd? Having none of the original actors killed this movie. Jeff Bridges could have made this work, the current cast couldn't.

It had no magic. You didn't get to know Roy enough to like him before he was dead. He had none of the quirks of the Jeff Bridges version.

After the first 20min of this "comedy" I turned it off. It was just boring and not funny.