RIPD 2 review: a surprise Netflix prequel improves on the original

The workforce behind the shock spinoff RIPD 2: Rise Of the Damned understands a cardinal rule of prequels: They need to stand on their very own, slightly than endlessly calling again to the movie that spawned them. That’s the one strategy to keep away from making a movie that primarily speaks to essentially the most devoted followers. Rise Of the Damned’s creators most definitely perceive this as a result of the unique RIPD doesn’t have any followers. Sufficient time has handed since its unheralded 2013 launch that it will not be greater than a dim reminiscence for anybody on Earth. (It’s at present streaming on HBO Max, for the curious and/or understandably forgetful.)

If RIPD does encourage a flicker of recollection, it’s most definitely to do with its buddy-action pairing of Ryan Reynolds, in one in every of his many pre-Deadpool makes an attempt to leap right into a comics-based franchise, and Jeff Bridges, then capitalizing on his True Grit cowboy persona. The premise, taken from a Darkish Horse comics collection, is principally Males in Black redundantly crossed with Ghostbusters: Within the afterlife, a up to date cop (Reynolds) is teamed with Previous West sheriff Roy Pulsipher (Bridges) to return to Earth and observe down “Deados” — wayward souls possessing human our bodies.

Clearly these stars aren’t returning for this direct-to-streaming prequel, which simply leaves the lore of this universe as a draw for viewers. That is an origin story of kinds for Roy — although it’s straightforward to neglect it’s the identical character, as a result of lead actor Jeffrey Donovan, star of Burn Discover, makes no effort to mimic Bridges’ cottony, tobacco-stained drawl, or faux a 19th-century cowboy have an effect on in any respect, actually. The place Previous Roy was a gunslinger out of a Saturday-morning cartoon, Younger Roy is extra the sort you’d discover in a neighborhood TV advert throughout that cartoon’s industrial breaks. Donovan appears solely momentarily dedicated to the half. (It’s totally doable that, like most individuals, he has not seen the unique RIPD.)

Picture: Joel Baik/Common Footage

Killed throughout a prepare theft in 1876, Roy is distributed to the afterlife and paired with veteran deado-buster Jeanne (Penelope Mitchell), a sword-toting badass. Although Roy by no means appears all that upset by his destiny, he nonetheless needs revenge on Slim (Jake Choi), the person he holds accountable for his dying. (None of this fairly squares with what the unique film says about Roy’s demise, however who would discover?) Roy and Jeanne’s RIPD project is to cease Otis Clairborne (Richard Brake) from unleashing a military of indignant souls from hell, bringing concerning the finish of the world as we all know it, and so on. Naturally, Roy’s private vendetta entwines with the world-ending stakes.

It’s all nonsense, nevertheless it’s nonsense that improves on its predecessor, at the very least aesthetically: Reimagining RIPD as a Western downplays its standing as a Males in Black knock-off, whereas giving the motion some novelty and a baseline tactility. When the particular results arrive, they’re largely generic squiggles of smoke and lightweight, however the film by no means descends right into a green-screen nightmare populated by ugly CG characters the way in which the primary one did. As a substitute, director and co-writer Paul Leyden (Chick Battle) makes use of old school set design, costumes, and lighting to set the scene, slightly than an extra of laptop gunk. It isn’t precisely a feast for the eyes: That is nonetheless a direct-to-video prequel to a franchise nonstarter. However the Western setting goes a good distance towards avoiding the hazy, phony look of so many big-screen wannabe blockbusters.

What Rise Of the Damned does share with each its predecessor and its numerous junk-pile ancestors is a misjudgment of its human angle. For some cause, Leyden and his co-writer Andrew Klein have determined the emotional hook of the story is Roy’s post-death acceptance that his completely good potential son-in-law Angus (Richard Fleeshman), is… as good as he initially appears, and worthy of Roy’s daughter Charlotte (Tilly Keeper). That is true despite the fact that Charlotte spends many of the film off-screen, and barely appears to cross Roy’s thoughts when he dies. The end result of Roy’s mistrust of Angus is just doubtful within the sense that viewers might not consider the film will spend a lot run time on such a story lifeless finish, particularly when the extra attention-grabbing relationship is between Roy and Jeanne. She has a backstory of historic significance the film reveals late within the sport, a bonkers contact that’s excellent for this type of B-movie.

Picture: Common Footage

Not all the movie’s different quirks work this nicely. Rachel Adedeji and Evlyne Oyedokun are given the impossibly thankless roles of enjoying the Earthly our bodies Roy and Jeanne inhabit — basically, corporeal disguises to forestall any folks they used to know from recognizing them. (Jeanne, who’s been lifeless for a whole lot of years, shouldn’t have this downside.) It’s a conceit carried over from the primary film, which made a operating joke out of Bridges and Reynolds showing, to exterior observers, as a wonderful blonde girl and ubiquitous character actor James Hong, respectively. That little bit of enterprise flirted with the unhealthy style of turning our bodies into punchlines, and likewise wasn’t a lot of a joke to start with. This model manages to be extra questionable and even much less humorous: Leyden casts two Black girls as sight gags, so he and co-writer Andrew Klein could make winking jokes about racism with out together with any precise Black characters of consequence. It’s an astonishing miscalculation.

So, it could possibly be argued, is making RIPD 2 within the first place. It’s the form of undertaking that provides the deceive different films described with a pithy “Nobody requested for this.” (Oh, “nobody requested for” a Buzz Lightyear spinoff from the beloved and enduring Toy Story collection? That movie appears important in comparison with this decade-later prequel to a critically panned flop that vaguely resembles its fellow flop Jonah Hex.) Given how pointless Rise Of the Damned is, Leyden’s option to pare down the unique RIPD’s summer-movie bombast into an agreeable, swiftly paced supernatural Western qualifies as a rousing success. Alternatively, anybody working within the RIPD universe also needs to perceive the worth of simply staying lifeless.

RIPD 2: Rise of the Damned is offered to stream on Netflix, or for digital rental on Amazon, Vudu, and different platforms. You may watch the primary eight minutes of the film free on-line.