Ryan Reynolds had a rough time with comic book movies beforeDeadpool. His first attempt saw him play Hannibal King inBlade: Trinity, which started his long march toward the red spandex. He played the widely despised version of Wade Wilson inX-Men Origins: Wolverineand Hal Jordan inGreen Lantern, both of which went down in flames. His last comic adaptation before the role he was born to play wasRIPD.It didn’t work out, butRIPD 2: Rise of the Damnedexists nonetheless.
Straight-to-streaming sequels to theatrical features aren’t as common as straight-to-video examples used to be. Franchisesused to send twoor three entries to the big screen before giving up and dropping several follow-ups onto store shelves. Netflix and its ilk seem aware of the danger a phrase like “dumped on streaming” might pose to the long-term fate of the industry. When movies likePreyare denied theatrical release windows, fans justifiably hate it. There was no similar reaction toRIPD 2.
RIPD 2is a sequel toRIPD
RIPDwas a 2013 action/comedy film directed byTime Traveler’s WifeandRedfilmmaker Robert Schwentke. The film adapted Peter M. Lenkov’s 1999 comic book series of the same name.Wedding Crashersdirector David Dobkin stepped up to the project when the studio bought the rights in 2006, but it sat on the shelf for years, and Dobkin exited somewhere along the way. Universal didn’t officially greenlight the film until 2010. Ryan Reynolds was attached to star. Zack Galifianakis turned down the other lead role in the project, leaving Jeff Bridges to take the part. The film fell into theaters in the summer of 2013, where itcompeted withDespicable Me 2,Pacific Rim, andThe Heat. It was a box-office bomb, earning around half of its production budget. Critics were no kinder to it. Against all odds, someone greenlit a sequel, sendingRIPD 2to the small screen in 2022.
Ryan Reynolds starred as Nick Walker, a dirty cop who dies on duty. He wakes up in a glowing office building. Walker meets Proctor, a supervisor with theRIPD. The titular Rest in Peace Division is a spectral police force that keeps the dead under control. They function likethe Men in Blackbut for ghosts instead of aliens. Walker must work with the division for a chance to solve his murder. He’s paired up with a veteran cowboy and sent into the field. It’s a simple action/comedy that died at the box office due to several unforgivable failures. Despite losing the studio millions, it got another chance at life.
What isRIPD 2about?
RIPD 2follows Roy Pulsipher, Jeff Bridges' cowboy character from the 2013 film. Jeffery Donovan takes over the role, bringing none of the energy that made him the only tolerable part ofRIPD. It’s set in 1876, abandoning the modern setting from the previous film in favor of some Old West action.RIPD 2is a prequel that depicts Roy’s death at the hands of a gang of outlaws. After his murder, he is drawn into the division. Roy is paired with Penelope Mitchell’s Jeanne, a French swordswoman who has slayed the dead for decades. They’re tasked with protecting the Earth from the evil Otis Clairborn,portrayed by Richard Brake. Clairborn intends to raise an army of damned souls from the depths of Hell.RIPD 2doesn’t look like the first film, but its plot is almost identical.
What isRIPD’s Rotten Tomatoes score?
Rotten Tomatoes slappedRIPDwith a 12% positive rating.Critics and audiences despisedthe film.RIPD 2has a slightly higher score with several mitigating factors.RIPD 2earned a 20% positive score from critics. The sequel’s average score was lower, a 3.1 compared to a 3.7. Only five critics weighed in onRIPD 2. Looking beyond Rotten Tomatoes, some felt the Western setting madeRIPD 2more engaging. It was a creative choice that distanced the sequel from its more generic predecessor. All they had to do to feel like a real movie was borrow from another genre. Neither film will be celebrated. There isno fanbase for this franchise. It’s safe to assume there won’t be anRIPD 3, but it was reasonable to believe there would be noRIPD 2.
RIPD 2is frustratingly absent from the public record. No one talked about it during production. There will never be a making-of documentary about a straight-to-DVD sequel to a box-office bomb. Someone needs to come out and say why they made this movie. Not because it’s theworst film ever made, but because it might be the most unnecessary. The comics are still out there and generally far better than either film. The best way to experience the story is its original iteration.RIPD 2doesn’t need to exist, but it does. It shouldn’t have risen from the dead, but that’s what the Rest in Peace Division does best.
