![]() ![]() It isn’t exactly a feast for the eyes: This is still a direct-to-video prequel to a franchise nonstarter. Instead, director and co-writer Paul Leyden ( Chick Fight) uses old-fashioned set design, costumes, and lighting to set the scene, rather than an excess of computer gunk. When the special effects arrive, they’re mostly generic squiggles of smoke and light, but the movie never descends into a green-screen nightmare populated by ugly CG characters the way the first one did. It’s all nonsense, but it’s nonsense that improves on its predecessor, at least aesthetically: Reimagining RIPD as a Western downplays its status as a Men in Black knock-off, while giving the action some novelty and a baseline tactility. Naturally, Roy’s personal vendetta entwines with the world-ending stakes. (None of this quite squares with what the original movie says about Roy’s demise, but who would notice?) Roy and Jeanne’s RIPD assignment is to stop Otis Clairborne (Richard Brake) from unleashing an army of angry souls from hell, bringing about the end of the world as we know it, etc. Though Roy never seems all that upset by his fate, he still wants revenge on Slim (Jake Choi), the man he holds responsible for his death. Killed during a train robbery in 1876, Roy is sent to the afterlife and paired with veteran deado-buster Jeanne (Penelope Mitchell), a sword-toting badass. (It’s entirely possible that, like most people, he has not seen the original RIPD.) ![]() Donovan seems only momentarily committed to the part. Where Old Roy was a gunslinger out of a Saturday-morning cartoon, Young Roy is more the type you’d find in a local TV ad during that cartoon’s commercial breaks. This is an origin story of sorts for Roy - though it’s easy to forget it’s the same character, because lead actor Jeffrey Donovan, star of Burn Notice, makes no effort to imitate Bridges’ cottony, tobacco-stained drawl, or fake a 19th-century cowboy affect at all, really. Obviously those stars aren’t returning for this direct-to-streaming prequel, which just leaves the lore of this universe as a draw for viewers. The premise, taken from a Dark Horse comics series, is basically Men in Black redundantly crossed with Ghostbusters: In the afterlife, a contemporary cop (Reynolds) is teamed with Old West sheriff Roy Pulsipher (Bridges) to return to Earth and track down “Deados” - wayward souls possessing human bodies. If RIPD does inspire a flicker of recollection, it’s most likely to do with its buddy-action pairing of Ryan Reynolds, in one of his many pre- Deadpool attempts to jump into a comics-based franchise, and Jeff Bridges, then capitalizing on his True Grit cowboy persona. (It’s currently streaming on HBO Max, for the curious and/or understandably forgetful.) Enough time has passed since its unheralded 2013 release that it may not be more than a dim memory for anyone on Earth. Rise Of the Damned’s creators most likely understand this because the original RIPD doesn’t have any fans. That’s the only way to avoid making a film that primarily speaks to the most dedicated fans. The team behind the surprise spinoff RIPD 2: Rise Of the Damned understands a cardinal rule of prequels: They should stand on their own, rather than endlessly calling back to the film that spawned them. ![]()
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