This week’s #NewOnNetflix pick is one that will divide consensus, aptly seen by its 39% score on Rotten Tomatoes and it’s 5.6 on IMDB. It sounds a bit of a mess I mean just read the description:
Veteran lawman Roy Pulsifer (Jeff Bridges) works for the R.I.P.D., a legendary police force charged with finding monstrous spirits who are disguised as ordinary people but are trying to avoid their final judgment by hiding out among the living. When Roy and his new partner, Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds), uncover a plot that could end all life, they must discover a way to restore the cosmic balance or else watch the tunnel to the afterlife start sending angry souls back to the world of the living.
As you can probably tell this was originally a comic book, and had murmurings of being terrible before it was even released, then it was converted to 3D and pushed back at a time when 3D was seen as a way of boosting earnings on bad films. So not a great start all things considered, but I have to say that I really liked this film! It has the tone of Men In Black and comes off a bit like the bastard child of MIB, Ghostbusters and Frighteners. I love Jeff Bridges and find his chemistry with Ryan Reynolds to be funny and enjoyable. It had a whopping $130 million budget so the effects are really good and production values are really high. An acquired taste it maybe but I also think it holds up as daft pop-corn fodder (if you can turn your brain off) as well as any of the Men In Black films, so basically if you liked them then you’ll like this.
BONUS MATERIAL –
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is up on Netflix this week. If you’ve seen the others then here’s this one to watch. I gave up after the second installment but if you’ve come this far you may as well I guess, plus Jennifer Lawrence is in it, so there’s that.
