Where Old Roy was a gunslinger out of a Saturday-morning cartoon, Young Roy is more the type you’d find in a local TV ad during that cartoon’s commercial breaks. This is an origin story of sorts for Roy - though it’s easy to forget it’s the same character, because lead actor Jeffrey Donovan, star of Burn Notice, makes no effort to imitate Bridges’ cottony, tobacco-stained drawl, or fake a 19th-century cowboy affect at all, really. Obviously those stars aren’t returning for this direct-to-streaming prequel, which just leaves the lore of this universe as a draw for viewers. The premise, taken from a Dark Horse comics series, is basically Men in Black redundantly crossed with Ghostbusters: In the afterlife, a contemporary cop (Reynolds) is teamed with Old West sheriff Roy Pulsipher (Bridges) to return to Earth and track down “Deados” - wayward souls possessing human bodies. If RIPD does inspire a flicker of recollection, it’s most likely to do with its buddy-action pairing of Ryan Reynolds, in one of his many pre- Deadpool attempts to jump into a comics-based franchise, and Jeff Bridges, then capitalizing on his True Grit cowboy persona. (It’s currently streaming on HBO Max, for the curious and/or understandably forgetful.) Enough time has passed since its unheralded 2013 release that it may not be more than a dim memory for anyone on Earth.
Rise Of the Damned’s creators most likely understand this because the original RIPD doesn’t have any fans.
That’s the only way to avoid making a film that primarily speaks to the most dedicated fans. The team behind the surprise spinoff RIPD 2: Rise Of the Damned understands a cardinal rule of prequels: They should stand on their own, rather than endlessly calling back to the film that spawned them.
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