Before Ryan Reynolds starred as the motor-mouthed mercenary in 2016’s Deadpool, the Van Wilder actor had multiple comic book-based bombs under his utility belt. Reynolds starred opposite Wesley Snipes as vampire hunter Hannibal King in 2004’s Blade: Trinity, battled Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine as the mouthless Wade Wilson/Weapon XI in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and most infamously, wielded the power ring of DC superhero Hal Jordan in the 2011 commercial and critical flop Green Lantern.
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But in between Green Lantern and the hilarious smash hit Deadpool is a little-remembered misfire: 2013’s R.I.P.D, based on Peter M. Lenkov’s 1999 Dark Horse comic book series of the same name.

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The four-issue series follows Detective Nick Cruz, who is gunned down in the line of duty and joins the soon-retiring Sheriff Roy Powell in the afterlife’s R.I.P.D.: the Rest In Peace Department. Patrolling the dead beat as God’s police force, Cruz and Powell’s first case is to track down Cruz’s killer just as demons Snuff and Speck escape Pandemonium — the capital city of Hell — and wreak havoc on Earth in search of archangel Michael’s Satan-slaying sword.
If you’re looking to revisit R.I.P.D., the movie is now available to stream with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. (Other Ryan Reynolds movies currently streaming on Prime are Safe House, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife, IF, and thrillers Safe House and Buried.) Reynolds and Bridges lead a cast that also includes Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3), and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) with James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class).

Directed by Robert Schwentke (Red), the supernatural action-comedy pairs Boston Det. Nick Walker (Reynolds) with Old West lawman Roicephus “Roy” Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), both murdered by their former partners. Rather than take his chance with Judgement, Walker agrees to join the R.I.P.D. and find “Deados”: dead people that have escaped Judgement. When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork to restore the cosmic balance — or watch the tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the wrong way.
R.I.P.D. was panned by critics and audiences alike with a grave C+ CinemaScore. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, R.I.P.D. was D.O.A. with 13%, below Blade: Trinity‘s 24%, X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s 37%, and Green Lantern‘s 25% approval from critics. The consensus, that the movie is a lifeless mishmash of Men In Black and Ghostbusters, contributed to R.I.P.D. bombing at the box office in July 2013. It grossed just $78.3 million at the global box office against a reported budget of $154 million.