Ryan Reynolds will never receive my forgiveness for Green Lantern. He took a cherished, fairly unknown DC hero and made him just about useless. I'll admit that the Green Lantern wasn't really a great character to start with, but they somehow made him worse, and I hold Ryan responsible for it like I hold Ben "I Can't Act My Way Out of A Paper Bag" Affleck responsible for DareDevil.
In this movie, Ryan plays the 14-year veteran of the Boston police department cut down in the prime of his life by his own partner. His partner, played by Kevin Bacon, and he found some kind of odd gold pieces that they both absconded with. Yes, this will come into play later, as you might suspect.\
So, when he dies, he is drafted into the Rest In Peace Department. Their job is to find dead people who are trying to stay in the real world and deliver them to the afterlife or eliminate them entirely. His partner is an old west cop played by Jeff Bridges. His technique is brash and unrestrained, and that means that our hero will have no end of hilarity when dealing with him.
The movie is a strange mix of Men In Black and well, I guess it's mostly Men In Black. They have the whole thing where they have to try and prevent dead people from making a ruckus, and they fail pretty miserably at that. Unlike MIB, they don't have a flashy thing, so right off the bat this story is going to have some believably issues. The CG on the "monsters" is not particularly believable, either.
Once you suspend your disbelief, the movie is an entertaining something to watch. I think it reminds me a little of an inexpensive Cowboys vs Aliens, too. Either way, it's not intended to be accepted for its realism.
Story was okay, if predictable.
Acting was good.
Direction was good.
Dialogue was very good.
Effects were mostly not great.
2.5/5