R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned

Jeffrey Donovan, Penelope Mitchell and Richard Blake star in the second installment of R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned by director Paul Leyden.

Now I think it’s only fair that I mention that I have not watched the original film featuring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges which was released in 2013, however, after receiving mixed reactions on it, I thought why not watch the second seeing as it does not include any of the prequel cast and how could a action/comedy possibly hurt in any way.

Roy Pulsipher a late sheriff is recruited by the R.I.P.D. after his death and is returned to Earth to save humanity from a gateway to hell which would see the end of life as we know it.

As I stated before I said “How could a action/comedy possibly hurt in any way” and I apologize for using those words because this movie hurt watching it.

Perhaps I gave it too much credit because I had not watched the one before and genuinely wanted to love this one but it was nay impossible.

R.I.P.D. 2’s humor is so dry, full of sarcasm and blind to the genre of whether it’s an action movie or comedy that the entire movie implodes in itself.

Throughout the whole movie I kept asking myself “What’s the main objective again” due to the inconsistent writing and direction of the film. Though I do give it credit for at least explaining what the R.I.P.D. is for and what their responsibilities are for newcomers to the franchise.

It certainly made it easier for me to comprehend why two white people become black women to the dear and living people on earth but then again who am I to agree with someone else’s concept of the afterlife lol…

Story wise, there’s nothing complicated about the film. It’s your typical point A to point B, from B to C, so on and so on. Richard Blake plays the character of Otis Chairnorne, who’s one day possessed by a being out of this world.

He means to achieve his goal at any cost, however, our protagonists have their work cut out for them when all they need to do is hunt down the people that killed the poor sheriff and those people will lead us straight to our antagonist.

Once we arrive at our final destination, we are given an immense disappointing conclusion to whatever buildup that could have been. I was more excited about the movie ending than anything else during the film.

Jeffrey Donovan, Penolope Mitchell and Richard Blake try to give us their best performances, but something just feels off.

The pacing was dreadful, it’s like the film didn’t know whether to stick with the comedic, action side of the movie, or add drama to the equation.

For a western sort of film blended with CGI and VFX effects, I must admit that the effects weren’t totally bad. Which is possibly the only good thing doing for this movie? The effects were smooth and level to an acceptable degree.

Overall, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned does little to keep you souly focused and in tune with the story. It deviates from time to time on either genre but fails to leave an impressive smile or sign of excitement.

For this, I give R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned a 2.3 out of 5 rating. It’s worth watching only once, twice would be torture.

Let me know in the comments section whether you agree or disagree with my review below and let’s get the conversation started.

I want to apologize for there being no review this Tuesday, I’ve got some ideas planned down the pipeline which I can’t wait to share with you.

Till then, have a wonderful festive season.

Stay Blessed and thank you for reading another review from, LSR.