R.I.P.D.

You know what? This is not actually as bad as it is said to be. Sort of like a new take on Men in Black, only instead of aliens you have bad dead people that somehow escaped their final judgment. The job of the Rest In Peace Department is to bring them back where they belong.

It is garish. It is ridiculous. It is stupid (of course it is).

But it also has Kevin Bacon. So there is your saving grace. He plays a bad guy (kind of a douche bag, really). He eventually turns out to be the big cheese among the dead ones on earth, even though you go through a big portion of the film before you find out that he is, in fact, dead. There is a reason for him not looking like the rest and - more importantly - not smelling like them. But there is no need to get into that.

What I found funny was that the R.I.P.D. duo of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds look very different to the living. They have earthly Avatars. Roy (Bridges) is a hot blonde bursting out of her dress and Nick (Reynolds) is an elderly Chinese man.

Also the dead people look rather cool once their fake mortal shell has been busted (through the help of Indian food or, more specifically, cumin).

Not a milestone, to be sure, but entertaining nonetheless.

It is what it is.

5/10

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

Connor and Murphy have disappeared from Boston and spent the last 8 years herding sheep in Ireland, when a hit on a priest, made to look like they did it, draws them back to clear out the leftovers.

The opponent this time around is the son of their last victim, the Italian mob boss they executed very publicly in a court room. They have to deal with a short (5'5") assassin (killer of said priest) and a whole posse of bad guys. Yet again they are aided by a few local cops as well as FBI special agent Eunice Bloom, who picks right up where agent Smecker has left off in part one.

They also get a new sidekick, Romeo, who they first come in contact with on they journey overseas. The three take out the majority of the bad guys. Of course, nothing ever goes according to Connor's cunning plans, which makes it all the more amusing.

However, it turns out that the local mob guys are not really in charge of what was orchestrated. Behind everything is someone only referred to as 'The Old Man' or, once 'The Roman', who turns out to be an old acquaintance of Poppa MacManus.

Much like part one, funny and full of quotable one liners.

8/10

The Boondock Saints

The MacManus twins, Connor and Murphy (played by Sean Patrick Falnery and Norman Reedus), kill a couple of Russian mob guys in self defense (sort of). After coming into a Boston police station, where the FBI agent Smecker (very passionately portrayed by Willem Defoe) has taken the role of lead investigator, to explain how the mobsters ended up dead they are suddenly celebrated by the media and the public for ridding the world of evil. Being religious Irish boys, they realize that this is what they should be doing - kill off bad guys.

They precede to take out big chunks of the Russian and Italian mob that infested Boston, aided by their hapless friend Rocco (David Della Rocco), who can finger any number of bad guys, having run errands for the don of the Italian side of the operations. Rocco's involvement causes some confusion for law enforcement and Smecker, at first. A lot of the killings look like professional hits (the brothers' talent runs in the family) but there is always some kills that less talented Rocco does, which stumps the investigators.

When at one crime scene Smecker finds Rocco's shot of index finger and realizes who it is he is actually hunting, he keeps the information to himself and starts aiding the crime fighting killers in any way he can. The Don has recruited a mysterious hitman, referred to as Il Duce or The Duke, to take out Rocco, who he initially believes is the only one responsible for taking out his associates.

During the bloody confrontation with the Italians, that Rocco does not survive, The Duke (Billy Connelly) arrives to take out the brothers only to realize that they are his sons he hasn't seen in a long time. The three team up to take out the last standing Italian mobster.

There is quite the cult around this film and the MacManus twins and now I understand why. The film is bloody, funny and quotable.

8/10