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

Team behind surprise spinoff RIPD 2 – Rise of the DamnedOne rule applies to prequels. They must stand for themselves, and not keep referring back incessantly to their predecessors. That’s the only way to avoid making a film that primarily speaks to the most dedicated fans. Rise of the Damned’s creators most likely understand this because the original RIPD doesn’t Have Fans. It may be too late to remember the 2013 unheralded release. (It’s currently streaming on HBO Max, for the curious and/or understandably forgetful.)

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-DeadpoolJeff Bridges and his attempt to enter a comics-based business, and he then capitalizes upon it. True GritCowboy appearance. The basic premise is taken from the Dark Horse comics series. Black for MenWith redundantly 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.

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. 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 Take out the Notice, makes no effort to imitate Bridges’ cottony, tobacco-stained drawl, or fake a 19th-century cowboy affect at all, really. 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. Donovan appears to be only temporarily committed to the role. (It’s entirely possible that, like most people, he has not seen the original RIPD.)

Photo: Joel Baik/Universal Pictures

Roy, who was shot and killed during a railroad robbery 1876 is sent to heaven with Jeanne (Penelope Mitchell), an experienced deado-buster. Jeanne is a fierce sword-toting badass. Although Roy is not too upset about his end, Slim (Jake Choi), who he believes was responsible for his death, still intends to take revenge. (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. Naturally, Roy’s personal vendetta entwines with the world-ending stakes.

It’s all nonsense, but it’s nonsense that improves on its predecessor, at least aesthetically: Reimagining RIPDAs a Western minimizes its role as an a Black for MenThe action is not a copy, but it does have some uniqueness and an overall sense of humor. 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. Paul Leyden was the co-director and writer.Chick FightThis movie uses set design, costumes and lighting that is more traditional than excessive amounts of software to establish the scene. It isn’t exactly a feast for the eyes: This is still a direct-to-video prequel to a franchise nonstarter. However, the Western setting is a great way to get away from the unrealistic look so often portrayed by big-screen blockbusters.

Was ist das? Rise of the DamnedIt shares with its predecessor, as well as its junk-pile ancestors, is the misjudgment in its human angle. For some reason, Leyden and his co-writer Andrew Klein have decided the emotional hook of the story is Roy’s post-death acceptance that his perfectly nice prospective son-in-law Angus (Richard Fleeshman), is… as nice as he initially seems, and worthy of Roy’s daughter Charlotte (Tilly Keeper). This is true even though Charlotte spends most of the movie off-screen, and barely seems to cross Roy’s mind when he dies. The outcome of Roy’s distrust of Angus is only in doubt in the sense that viewers may not believe the movie will spend so much run time on such a narrative dead end, especially when the more interesting relationship is between Roy and Jeanne. She has a backstory of historical significance the movie reveals late in the game, a bonkers touch that’s perfect for this kind of B-movie.

Universal Pictures

Not all of the film’s other quirks work this well. Rachel Adedeji and Evlyne Oyedokun are given the impossibly thankless roles of playing the Earthly bodies Roy and Jeanne inhabit — essentially, corporeal disguises to prevent any people they used to know from recognizing them. (Jeanne, who’s been dead for hundreds of years, should not have this problem.) It’s a conceit carried over from the first movie, which made a running joke out of Bridges and Reynolds appearing, to outside observers, as a beautiful blonde woman and ubiquitous character actor James Hong, respectively. That bit of business flirted with the bad taste of turning bodies into punchlines, and also wasn’t much of a joke to begin with. The second version is more questionable, and less funny. Leyden uses two Black women to make sight gags so that he and Andrew Klein can joke about racism while not including actual Black characters. It’s an astonishing miscalculation.

One could argue that it is the making of RIPD 2. It was the right thing to do. It’s the kind of project that gives the lie to other movies described with a pithy “No one asked for this.” (Oh, “no one asked for” a Buzz Lightyear spinoff from the beloved and enduring Toy Story series? The film seemed essential when compared with the prequel a decade later to a critically-panned flop which vaguely resembles its predecessor flop Jonah Hex.) It is so unnecessary Rise of the Damned is, Leyden’s choice to pare down the original RIPD’s summer-movie bombast into an agreeable, swiftly paced supernatural Western qualifies as a rousing success. Anyone working in the RIPDThe universe must also recognize the importance of staying alive.

RIPD 2 – Rise of the Damned You can stream it on Netflix or digitally rent it. Amazon, VuduYou can also watch on other platforms. Watch the video. The first 8 minutes of the film are free to watch online.