R.I.P.D.
2013 · Directed by Robert Schwentke
Original language: English
- fantasy
- action
- comedy
The story
A recently slain cop joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated, and deliberately overlit: sun-baked suburban streets, glossy gold-and-orange palettes, and the flat glare of day-for-night city sequences give it a cheerful, slightly artificial sheen, like a comic panel brought to life. The camera stays busy, with fast cutting, whip pans and wide comic-book compositions during the action, then settles into conventional two-shots for the buddy banter. Sound leans on a loud, bouncy orchestral-pop score and punchy effects, with the chaotic bursts of gunfire and the occasional cartoonish squelch when the undead are dispatched. Its vibe is brash, goofy and light, the kind of movie suited to a weekend afternoon, a lazy couch evening or a long-haul flight where nothing needs to land too hard. The pacing is quick and jokey, and the emotional register stays mostly playful even when a dead cop's grief over his widow surfaces, as he gradually warms to his gruff, unexpectedly kind new partner. Violence is frequent and stylised: gunfights, explosions and creature-style bodies dissolving into dust, with a little bloody gore and some crude humour but no sexual content. It suits viewers who want undemanding action-comedy with a buddy dynamic and don't mind cheesy spectacle.
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