The movie might have been a little above average had the Men in Black and Ghostbusters movies never been made, but it wasn't quite as funny as either of those science fiction comedies.
This was no fault of the actors. Jeff Bridges always surprises me with his acting range.
But it's as though the the script was written by fanboys of MIB and Ghostbusters who wanted to do the same thing with their own characters.
The following points can describe both MIB and RIPD:
* A hidden company with a cool acronym recruits people to hunt down weird creatures. * An old, seasoned creature-hunter pairs up with an upstart rookie and sparks fly as they track clues toward a serious event about to take place. * Creatures are hiding amongst us, and an agency that hides "in plain sight" is tasked with controlling them.
Now let's look at similarities with Ghostbusters:
* A heroic group is tasked with capturing dead creatures. * Dead creatures are trying to take over our dimension, and it may spell doom for mankind. * Special technology is used to eliminate dead creatures.
All three are comedies, deal with some ridiculous but popular fantasy elements (ghosts, aliens), and have an entourage protagonist (a team rather than a single person).
RIPD tried to be funny within its niche, and managed to accomplish a chuckle here and there, but the rip-off of its predecessors was painful.
One might argue that rip-offs are normal in Hollywood fare. After all, how many modern zombie movies are basically inspired by Night of the Living Dead (which itself was probably inspired by Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, a book written 14 years earlier and struck the same basic theme and plot points)? But MIB cornered a particular style that RIPD so obviously copied, right down to the acronym itself, that it's hard to look past it.
All that aside, the movie was barely entertaining, and really not worth modern ticket prices. It'll be largely forgotten in a few years, and you'll be lucky to find the Blu-ray discs in the $1 bargain barrel at Best Buy.
This was no fault of the actors. Jeff Bridges always surprises me with his acting range.
But it's as though the the script was written by fanboys of MIB and Ghostbusters who wanted to do the same thing with their own characters.
The following points can describe both MIB and RIPD:
* A hidden company with a cool acronym recruits people to hunt down weird creatures. * An old, seasoned creature-hunter pairs up with an upstart rookie and sparks fly as they track clues toward a serious event about to take place. * Creatures are hiding amongst us, and an agency that hides "in plain sight" is tasked with controlling them.
Now let's look at similarities with Ghostbusters:
* A heroic group is tasked with capturing dead creatures. * Dead creatures are trying to take over our dimension, and it may spell doom for mankind. * Special technology is used to eliminate dead creatures.
All three are comedies, deal with some ridiculous but popular fantasy elements (ghosts, aliens), and have an entourage protagonist (a team rather than a single person).
RIPD tried to be funny within its niche, and managed to accomplish a chuckle here and there, but the rip-off of its predecessors was painful.
One might argue that rip-offs are normal in Hollywood fare. After all, how many modern zombie movies are basically inspired by Night of the Living Dead (which itself was probably inspired by Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, a book written 14 years earlier and struck the same basic theme and plot points)? But MIB cornered a particular style that RIPD so obviously copied, right down to the acronym itself, that it's hard to look past it.
All that aside, the movie was barely entertaining, and really not worth modern ticket prices. It'll be largely forgotten in a few years, and you'll be lucky to find the Blu-ray discs in the $1 bargain barrel at Best Buy.