R.I.P.D. 2: RISE OF THE DAMNED (2022)
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(Action, Comedy, Supernatural Western) [PG-13]
I don’t need backup with a gun when I am unbeatable with a sword.
This one is set in the wild wild west in 1876. It is ultimately the prequel to R.I.P.D. which I liked quite a bit. The town Sheriff Roy Pulsipher dies in a shootout with a gang in the area. He doesn’t quite make it into heaven yet and gets to come back to fight to restore order to the world after a breach in the mining town of Red Creek has allowed something “hellish” to escape into the earth. This is going to take some getting used to because Sheriff Roy is no longer himself and he will be fighting alongside a sword-wielding warrior named Jeanne.
One thing I like a LOT better about this one than the first one is that they don’t shy away from Christian ideas, but take some fun creative liberties. I did a lot of this type of stuff in ANGELWOLF and I can appreciate handling things with respect while using creativity to tell a cool story. In spite of some of the bad reviews, we do get a really heartfelt storyline and some pretty awesome relationships. Jeanne mentions her other partners fighting evil are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There are also some respectful nods to the power of Jesus Christ. It’s pretty epic.
There is some pretty funny banter in this and that really helps out, but cinematically it’s a bit rough. We also have some oversights. In one scene Jeanne tells Henry that Mabel (Roy’s Avatar) is mute. Later in the scene, she says goodbye to Henry. Henry doesn’t even respond. By the way, as far as I can tell the actor who plays Henry is named Kevin Harvey. Kevin Harvey sounds a lot like Morgan Freeman. Not quite the same, but his voice is ridiculously comforting and authoritative.
Regarding the effects, there is a bit of both good and pretty bad in this. When the spirits are coming out of the “deados” the chest cavity opens up and I am not a fan of gore, but the graphics for the innards don’t have any depth. They are almost looney toon-ish. Then when we see the misty-looking appendages, those actually look pretty well rendered. I am not sure how the movie side of things works, but DARK HORSE owns the rights to all kinds of major properties when it comes to the comic world. STAR WARS, HELLBOY, GAME OF THRONES, INDIANA JONES, and even DISNEY are all comic book properties under DARK HORSE.
Acting wise I would have liked to see Kerry Knuppe get more screen time as Hano. She is the lady that works in heaven and kind of assigns the jobs to the R.I.P.D. I also liked Penelope Mitchell in this. She is best known for THE HYPERIONS and does a pretty decent job as Jeanne. She is from Australia and her roles in both films are wildly different, it took me a while to even notice it was her. I was not a fan of Jeffrey Donovan (BURN NOTICE) who plays Sheriff Roy. Rachel Adedeji (as Avatar Roy) and Stephanie Levi-John (as Beverly) both look like their careers are starting to get going, but neither was asked to do anything that would have allowed them to shine in this thing. Richard Brake (DOOM) does a very solid job as a deado named Otis Claireborne. I am sure he’s probably a decent person, but let’s just say he’s so creepy in this, maybe you just don’t want him watching your kids.
Overall this movie feels like it was directed by 2 different people. The first half comes across as a film you or I could do with a bunch of friends on a weekend. The second half is pretty bonkers and is more on the level of a DOCTOR WHO episode with a decent budget. Some of the dialog is definitely borrowed from other movies, but this thing actually does some stuff better than the original. If you approach this just looking for something a bit different and a lot of fun, this thing is pretty cool. I quite enjoyed it.
R.I.P.D. 2: RISE OF THE DAMNED gets a 5 out of 7 from me. It was quite a bit better than I expected even though it’s got a handful of flaws.
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