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.
Rampant CGI monsters, aggressive 3D and a fine cast – especially a likeably grizzly Jeff Bridges – still can’t bring this ho-hum Men In Black redux to life.
Confusing and uninspired rather than completely inept, it’s still likely to be swiftly struck from the résumés of all involved.
Sluggish and boring, it doesn’t have an original bone in its dead body.
I thought Jeff Bridges was rather funny, playing Roy, the undead 19th-century lawman. He doesn't justify the price of admission by himself, but he sure does try.
Two things I enjoyed: Mary Louise Parker as the cop duo's strict but flirty handler, and the little snippet of "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan they use in the RIPD interview room. The rest should have been buried in a deep hole.
Schwentke’s film may boast a strong cast and a $130 million budget but it fails to make the most out of any of them.
Overall, it's a directionless mess: too expensive for a B-movie, too grown-up for a kids' movie (funerals, bereavement and jokes about Steely Dan) and too infantile for everyone else. No wonder it died on its feet in the US.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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