R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D. - Dir. Robert Schwentke (2013)

Now that the Fast & Furious is nearing the end of the road, Universal is desperately searching for a big money making franchise. Other studios have had massive success with comic book adaptations, but with Marvel and DC locked up by Disney and Warner Brothers that leaves lesser known properties from independent publishers. That's not necessarily a bad thing. An obscure black & white comic titled Men in Black was turned into a billion dollar franchise with movies, an animated series, and tons of toys. Universal obviously had visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads when they snatched up the rights to the similarly themed, R.I.P.D., published by Dark Horse. Both comics are about a clandestine agency charged with protecting the Earth from otherworldly forces. In MIB, they're aliens. In RIPD, they're "Deados," fugitive spirits who have refused to pass into the great beyond. That's where the resemblances end as MIB is leaps and bounds beyond RIPD when it comes to originality.

Boston detective Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds) is uneasy about pocketing the gold he and his partner, Bobby Hayes (Kevin Bacon), have just found at a recent drug bust. Rather than see the gold taken into evidence, Hayes kills Walker during a raid. Due to his one moment of weakness, Walker is drafted into the Rest in Peace Department, which consists of the greatest lawmen who ever lived. Walker must serve his time with RIPD or take his chances with the higher powers. He is paired with Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), an ornery gunslinger from the Wild West, and uncovers a conspiracy to build a weapon that will unleash the dead into the world of the living.

The screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (Clash of the Titans) with a story credit by David Dobkin (who was previously attached to direct) is shamelessly derivative. RIPD clearly attempts to follow in the footsteps of MIB and Ghostbusters while borrowing also from Beetlejuice in its depictions of a bureaucratic afterlife. However, none of these ideas are ever fully realized. In a running gag, Walker and Pulsipher have cover identities while on Earth. Everyone around them sees only an old Asian guy (James Hong) and a smoking hot model (Marisa Miller). The filmmakers get a little mileage out of the joke with Bridges fending off advances from horndogs and Walker attempts to contact his wife (Stephanie Szostak) in a pair of scenes with half-hearted poignancy. However, the bit is quickly cast aside for a series of mind numbing car chases and explosions. Despite a budget of $130 million, the special effects are horrendous with Deados rendered as murky, lumbering blobs. The 1997 effects of MIB are far superior to the lackluster efforts here.

Ironically, RIPD opened opposite another comic book movie, Red 2, and was directed by Robert Schwentke, who helmed the first Red. While Schwentke doesn't have a masterful command of action, he did maintain an energetic tone in Red that is completely missing from RIPD. The fact that the characters are already dead and suffer no ill effects from being thrown off a roof or hit by a bus means there is never any sense of danger or suspense.

RIPD's one saving grace is Jeff Bridges, who essentially reprises his role of Rooster Cogburn with the addition of a Colonel Sanders goatee. Bridges plays it to the hilt and has some fun scenes opposite Mary-Louise Parker, who brings her own spin to the tightly wound precinct captain. There's also a welcome twist on the usual buddy cop formula with Walker's fresh-faced rookie as the straight-laced one of the pair and Bridges' wily veteran as the loose cannon. Also, kudos go to Kevin Bacon's agent for keeping his client's presence such a secret. Bacon is surely thankful.

RIPD died almost as quickly as its protagonist and continued to beat on a dead horse for another ninety minutes.

Rating: * (*****)

Red

Red - Dir. Robert Schwentke (2010)

RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous

For some odd reason, 2010 was the year for movies about crack teams of highly-trained specialists. We had The Losers, The A-Team, and The Expendables. Now, here comes Red, which also fits into the subgenre of 'government operatives hunted down by their employers' along with Salt and Knight and Day.

Red is based on a three issue mini-series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner that was published by Wildstorm, an imprint of DC Comics. The source material centered on a lone protagonist and was made of darker, more violent stuff. Jon & Eric Hoeber, who also adapted the graphic novel Whiteout, freely interpret the comic into a comedy-driven action romp.

Bruce Willis stars as Frank Moses, a former CIA assassin who has retired into a life of boring routine. He wakes up, eats his breakfast, and wheels out the garbage just like everyone else in his nondescript neighborhood. The sole bright spot of Frank's mundane existence are his flirty chats with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), the service rep who handles his pension. Like Frank, Sarah is trapped in the rut of your average cubicle dweller. She finds excitement more in the idea of Frank than the man himself.

One day, a hit-squad riddles Frank's house with machine gun fire in the middle of the night. Frank dispatches them with cold-blooded efficiency and rescues Sarah from another team of assassins who have monitored his conversations. Now, Frank must track down his former colleagues to find out who wants him dead. First, there's Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), now residing in a nursing home and suffering from terminal liver cancer. Next is Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), a conspiracy nut hiding out in the Florida swamps. He was fed a steady diet of LSD as part of a secret mind control experiment. Frank even turns to a former nemesis in Ivan Simanov (Brian Cox), a former Russian operative and one-time lover of the final member of the team, Victoria (Helen Mirren). An ex-MI6 agent, Victoria, now runs a bed and breakfast in Maryland.

The filmmakers didn't skimp on the supporting roles either, snagging an ensemble of talented actors to fill out the movie. Karl Urban plays William Cooper, the CIA agent tasked with capturing Frank and his comrades, with Rebecca Pidgeon as his hard-nosed supervisor and Julian McMahon as the vice-president. Richard Dreyfuss essentially reprises his role of Dick Cheney from Oliver Stone's W. as a crooked industrialist. The 93-year old Ernest Borgnine shows everybody how it's done as a records keeper for the CIA's dirtiest secrets.

Most of the actors play their roles broadly with Malkovich and Dreyfuss being the most over-the-top. You almost wish Dreyfuss had grown a handlebar mustache so you could watch him twirl it with villainous glee. In contrast, Willis is more laid back as the laconic Frank Moses. It's easy to imagine Moses as what John McClane would be like in his sunset years. His role in Red can also be seen as a meta comment on Willis's career as an action hero. At 55, Willis isn't quite ready to hand in his badge and gun, not when there's still ass kicking to do. Morgan Freeman (who could captivate an audience by reading the phone book) doesn't get nearly as much screen time, but makes the most of what little he has. Brian Cox affects a rather iffy Russian accent as a Cold War throwback.

Despite being a testosterone driven film, the best performances in Red belong to Mary-Louise Parker and Dame Helen Mirren. As the underwritten love interest, Parker displays deft comedic timing. Her best scenes are towards the beginning of the movie when she's kidnapped by Frank. Even with her hands bound and her mouth gagged, she manages to bring the funny, acting as the counterpoint to the sleepy eyed Willis. And what can you say about the ultra-classy Mirren? Her Victoria is like a cross between Emma Peel and Martha Stewart. She remains prim and proper as she fires a sniper rifle and throat punches people. How can anyone not delight in seeing Mirren decked out in an evening gown and combat boots while manning a .50 caliber machine gun bigger than she is?

The action is wildly cartoonish. A hand grenade is swatted away like a baseball and blows a henchman into pieces. Shortly afterwards, Malkovich deflects a rocket with a single bullet. It explodes in a massive ball of fire while Malkovich emerges without as much as a singed eyebrow. The film does peter out during a pedestrian and anticlimactic resolution, but rebounds with a hilarious epilogue.

Rating: ***