RIPD

Plot

Boston Police Department officers Detective Sergeant Nick Walker and Detective Lieutenant Bobby Hayes discover and steal several shards of gold while on duty. Nick buries his share under an orange tree sapling in his garden; his wife, Julia, thinks that the tree is a surprise gift and mentions how content she is with their life together. Nick realizes that they do not need the gold, and decides to submit it as evidence. During a subsequent raid, Hayes, dissatisfied with Nick's stroke of conscience, kills him.

In the afterlife, as penance for his thievery, Nick is recruited for the R.I.P.D. (The Rest In Peace Department). The R.I.P.D. is responsible for finding souls who refuse to move on to the afterlife, becoming "deados", monsters disguised as humans. He is partnered with Roycephus "Roy" Pulsipher, a former U.S. Marshal and participant in the American Civil War. On his first field mission, Nick aids Roy in interrogating a suspected deado, whereupon Nick discovers the perpetrator in possession of shards of gold like those he and Hayes had discovered. On their way they stop at a cemetery to watch his funeral, where Nick attempts to make his presence known to Julia but is not recognized, because R.I.P.D. officers are given new identities and appearances to prevent them revealing that the afterlife exists.

Nick dupes one of Roy's informants into revealing Hayes as his contact. They follow Hayes to Nick's old house, where he "discovers" Nick's stolen gold. After arguing over the gold, R.I.P.D. Chief Mildred Proctor receives orders to remove them from the case and from active duty due to this exposure. Proctor learns from Eternal Affairs that the gold could be used to construct the Staff of Jericho, which will reverse the flow of souls from earth to the afterlife.

After Roy and Nick make amends, they decide to work together to stop whatever Hayes is planning. They discover that Hayes is a deado and arrest him, but a confiscated item of his freezes the whole department, and Hayes and a group of deados escape with the remainder of the gold. They assemble the Staff of Jericho (an Obelisk of gold), and Hayes takes Julia hostage and stabs her as a necessary human sacrifice to activate the staff. A battle ensues; Pulsipher destroys the Staff of Jericho, and Nick exacts his revenge on Hayes. Close to death, Julia sees Nick for who he is; and they share a tearful farewell.

Later, Proctor informs Nick that Julia will live. She reinstates them both fully, though she adds 53 years to Roy's term in the R.I.P.D. As a reward, Roy gives Nick a new appearance, but he is dismayed to find it is that of a Girl Scout.

Cast

Zach Galifianakis was originally cast as Roy Pulsipher, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Jodie Foster was originally considered for the role of Proctor, but in the end, Mary-Louise Parker was cast.

Music

The soundtrack to RIPD was released on July 16, 2013.

Marketing

On July 16, Adult Swim's YouTube channel uploaded an animated prequel short, which was produced by Titmouse, Inc. and featured the voice work of Reynolds and Bridges.

Box office

The film grossed $12.7 million in its opening weekend, quickly being labeled a box office bomb. The film ended its theatrical run with $78.3 million worldwide, including a $33.6 million domestic total and $44.7 million in foreign markets. The film is considered one of the largest box office bombs of all time.

Critical response

R.I.P.D. received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 13% based on 93 reviews with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It has its moments -- most of them courtesy of Jeff Bridges' rootin' tootin' performance as an undead Wild West sheriff -- but R.I.P.D. is ultimately too dim-witted and formulaic to satisfy." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 25 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

Film critic Roger Moore gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "the worst comic book adaptation since Jonah Hex." Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film a half-star out of four, writing:

For a movie that so strenuously rips off Ghostbusters and Men in Black, R.I.P.D. manages to come up with fresh new ways of being absolutely terrible. The plot manages to be fully predictable and freakishly bonkers at the same time, seemingly born of the same kind of brainstorming-on-L.S.D. session that must have given us Howard the Duck.

Video game

An Atlus published video game based on the film and titled R.I.P.D. The Game was released on July 16, 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game is a co-op third-person shooter, set around a survival mode. It was developed by Old School Games and features gameplay similar to their previous game, God Mode. Just like its film counterpart, R.I.P.D. The Game received mostly negative reviews.