I love science fiction, I love action, I love comedy, I love comic books, and I even like Ryan Reynolds. Still, his movies just never seem to pan out, and this one is very poorly done. At best the premise belongs in a B-movie with a B-movie budget.
A Boston Cop (who couldn't convince any Bostonian) dies and is drafted into the Rest in Peace Department to hunt down "Deados", spirits that decide not to face their fate and stubbornly stay on earth. How do they defy Death and Judgement? They just refuse to go. "150,000 people die every day, the system can't catch all of them", and by system, I mean time stops and you suddenly find yourself flying into the sky without warning. Clearly something that can be resisted by someone saying "I don't wanna go!". These Deados look like ordinary people, but once they are exposed to Indian food they reveal their true disgusting forms. The RIPD's job is to track them down and send them to Judgement with their magic magnum pistols.
Apparently Deados are supposed to be a secret no one knows about. Except they do a horrible job at staying secret or being in any way discreet or subtle. At least in Men in Black the secret organization tried to cover up what happens. No, the RIPD just curse under their breath and move on to the next case, and maybe they get scolded by some doodles on a golden scroll.
The plot is dull and lifeless, much like the characters. No one seems to take anything as seriously as they should if it was as important as they say. The only elements of the film worth seeing are Jeff Bridges and Kevin Bacon. Bridges is in full Rooster Cogburn gunslinging form, and is somewhat a combination of the smart-talking Agent J and the surly Agent K in one man. He's cool. As for Kevin Bacon, no matter how stupid a scene he's in he never shows an instant of doubt or weakness. Just goes to show that even in a bad movie Kevin Bacon is untouchably cool.
A Boston Cop (who couldn't convince any Bostonian) dies and is drafted into the Rest in Peace Department to hunt down "Deados", spirits that decide not to face their fate and stubbornly stay on earth. How do they defy Death and Judgement? They just refuse to go. "150,000 people die every day, the system can't catch all of them", and by system, I mean time stops and you suddenly find yourself flying into the sky without warning. Clearly something that can be resisted by someone saying "I don't wanna go!". These Deados look like ordinary people, but once they are exposed to Indian food they reveal their true disgusting forms. The RIPD's job is to track them down and send them to Judgement with their magic magnum pistols.
Apparently Deados are supposed to be a secret no one knows about. Except they do a horrible job at staying secret or being in any way discreet or subtle. At least in Men in Black the secret organization tried to cover up what happens. No, the RIPD just curse under their breath and move on to the next case, and maybe they get scolded by some doodles on a golden scroll.
The plot is dull and lifeless, much like the characters. No one seems to take anything as seriously as they should if it was as important as they say. The only elements of the film worth seeing are Jeff Bridges and Kevin Bacon. Bridges is in full Rooster Cogburn gunslinging form, and is somewhat a combination of the smart-talking Agent J and the surly Agent K in one man. He's cool. As for Kevin Bacon, no matter how stupid a scene he's in he never shows an instant of doubt or weakness. Just goes to show that even in a bad movie Kevin Bacon is untouchably cool.