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

To continue on the tale of R.I.P.D., that ill-fated Ryan Reynolds chestnut of a comic book adaptation, is ill-conceived. Granted it cannot get much worse than that Reynolds and Jeff Bridges-starring piece, but R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned has more work cut out for it with less talent in front and behind the camera. Despite that damnation, there are surprising moments within this tremendously awful sequel that manages to elevate it somewhat above the first feature. How time marches on. What fun to be had with the ghouls and demonic spectacles that are simplified yet streamlined in this piece from Paul Leyden. What a surprising reward this turned out to be.

His direction is far more impressive than that of Robert Schwentke’s, the man responsible for the first in the series. It lingers on the horror antics a little better, with Richard Brake stepping up to the plate as an effective villain. There is clearly much less scope to the sequel and that is to be expected. They cannot afford to clear out the streets of New York and instead opt for the wilder participants of the west, with leading man Jeffrey Donovan turning in a charming performance that works with the iconography of the world and afterlife well. His prequel stance as Roy Pulsipher is a surprisingly well-navigated origin story. Donovan and company commit to the fairly light script, a sarcastic performance from a gun-toting Donovan makes for a nice break of pace found in the serious notes of the first feature. Decent shootouts feel more grounded and make sense to be that way, but they still provide good shot choreography and more than a few surprising moments.

Dumbing down and simplifying the context of the original, and rightly so, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned excels at being quite fun. It moves more toward ghouls of the damned rather than souls lost in the algorithm of heaven and hell. Donovan and Penelope Mitchell are an exceptional pairing while Kerry Knupe provides the most important context to come from a feature that, love it or loathe it, could not care for continuity from the original. Old western aesthetics with some modern bits and pieces to separate it from a deluge of very primitive and lacklustre straight-to-demand genre pieces.

Frankly, this is far more entertaining than the first piece and it is much better off in the simplest of ways. Its comic book charm is still intact and feels better, if anything. Fleshed out, lighter, brighter, and just better on the whole. Proof that star power does not always improve the standing of a feature but certainly aids the marketing, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned markets itself as a sequel without any faith in the original and benefits tremendously for it. Some of its special effects are clunky but even they are in far better standing than that of the lacklustre visuals found in the original. There are still troubling bits and pieces that do not stick together, but this, like The Infernal Machine, is a delightful straight-to-streaming treat that elevates itself through performance and placement.