R.I.P.D falls short this summer

Think Men in Black, Ghostbusters, and Ghost all mixed together.  Add in Jeff Bridges as a crusty old law man from the 1800’s (Roy), Ryan Reynolds as a rookie cop who is killed before he can right a wrong, and a go-go boot wearing Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker) somewhere in limbo and you’ve got R.I.P.D.   Oh yeah, and Kevin Bacon.  We’re always only 6 degrees away from Kevin Bacon.

 

R.I.P.D duals the “Rest In Peace Department” against the “dead-os” in this CGI-filled comedy action film that takes place in modern-day Boston.  The dead-os have a cartoony feel to them and the film falls short of the magic found in other movies where earthlings are oblivious to the supernatural threats around them.

 

Kind of a “universe protection program”, the R.I.P.D mission is to capture dead-os and send them where they belong.  Nick (the corrupt cop who dies) is taken to a sterile afterlife police department where Steely Dan is always playing because “it relaxes people.”  From there he is sent back to earth to bag dead-os.  These undead hardly compete with their counterparts in this summer’s blockbuster World War Z. 

 

Jeff Bridges’ old coot character has some fun lines like “She billy-goated me” when Mary-Louise Parker bites his gruffy beard, calling his Asian helper “Panda Express”, and “Boody Hoo” when he’s trying to get his young partner to man up, but his mouth sounded like it was full of chewing tobacco the entire time and I wished he would just spit and get it over with. 

 

Fenway Park, the Boston Commonwealth, and Boston’s Finest in uniform were proudly shown off, as well as cannolis from Mike’s Pastry shop, a popular bakery I visited a couple of years ago when I was in town.  I absolutely love Boston.  How does that merchandising work anyway?  A bottle of Fresca almost overshadowed Mary-Louise Parker in her introductory scene.  And what about all that cumin?  It was Indian food and spices which transformed the dead-o’s from regular-looking citizens into Saturday morning monsters.

 

One of the running gags in the film is that living humans perceive Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds to be a gorgeous blonde and an old Asian man.  The audience laughed every time at the ridiculous duo, but they were also looking at their cell phones and watches as the movie slugged along for 96 minutes.  Mary-Louise Parker's Botox is still full strength in Red 2, but she steals some scenes in that fun flick.

 

This supernatural movie is rated PG-13 for violence (mostly bloodless) and a heck of a lot of potty-mouths, mostly Jeff Bridges’.   The movie had its amusing moments, but my mind often wandered and thought my long laundry list of things I needed to get done as soon as the movie was over.  May this movie R.I.P.

 

 

Grade = C+

World War Z movie will quicken your pulse

Brad Pitt.  Need I say more?  Well ok, if you're a guy, you're going to want more out of this June thrill ride than just staring at the aging, yet still handsome half of Brangelina.

World War Z is a fun summer blockbuster about a zombie apocalypse, loosely based on the popular book that my sons devoured back in 2006 entitled "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks. I wonder if Brad Pitt's kids also read the book when it came out and clamored for pop to film it. His production company, Plan B Entertainment, quickly secured the screen rights for it in 2007. 

Rumor has it that the budget for this flick chewed up over $400 million with some post-production re-writes that caused its later release. In fact, the last 40 minutes of the movie were completely remade. Some critics claim the post-production troubles make the movie a bit choppy, but as long as you have popcorn in your mouth, you're going to be entertained. The zombie craze still seems to be alive and well, so ticket sales look promising.

Brad Pitt is confident it's going to do well and told US Today, "Listen, I'm pretty proud of this film.  It's just big and fun and this is the most intense thing you're going to see all year." He said it was the most intense thing he's done, and he certainly has skin in the game on this one...so to speak.

Brad Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a retired UN employee who gets called in to help find the origins of the undeadly strain that is turning humans into rabid zombies.  Gerry Lane is properly motivated to search the globe for a cure in return for his family's safety and protection on one of the few floating ships turned safe zones in the ocean.

Combine Gerry Lane's effective survival skills with Brad Pitt's golden locks and you get some action scenes that even hard-core preppers will admire. It's challenging enough to survive the slow-moving zombies in "The Walking Dead", but these creepy corpses "turn" in only 12 seconds, race after you at very quick speeds, jump onto the high walls surrounding Jerusalem, and even pull down a helicopter. Your heart will pound in suspense and you'll try to quiet your breath when you learn that loud sounds attract the rabid humans.

Gerry Lane counsels a family locked up in a New Jersey apartment after the chaotic outbreak that "movement is life." His former experience getting in and out of hot zones helps him come up with resourceful survival ideas, saving himself and others along the way, including a female soldier in the Israeli army.

If you loved the popular TV show "Lost", you'll get a kick out of seeing Matthew Fox as one of the parajumpers that fights to protect those seeking a cure.  Audiences will be introduced to Mireille Enos, who plays Brad Pitt's frightened and dutiful wife. 

The special effects are amazing and pretty believable.  As my kids say, "It could happen."

The movie is being released in 2D, RealID 3D, and IMAX 3D. While I love a good 3D experience, this particular film doesn't work well in 3D because of the camera's shakiness, so see it in 2D and you won't get dizzy.