R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned serves as a supernatural action-comedy adventure deeply rooted in the mythos of the afterlife policing force introduced in R.I.P.D.. In this installment, the story unfolds not as a direct continuation of Nick Walker’s journey but as a prequel that explores another era of the Rest In Peace Department, an otherworldly law enforcement agency tasked with monitoring spirits and preventing dangerous supernatural forces from encroaching on the realm of the living.

The film opens in the American West of 1876, where Sheriff Roy Pulsipher, a grizzled lawman from an Old West town, meets a violent end in a shootout with an outlaw gang. Instead of moving on, Roy finds himself recruited into the R.I.P.D., an organization that restores select souls to the mortal plane so they can police rogue spirits known as “Deados” — dead individuals who have escaped their final judgment and pose a threat to both worlds. Beneath the surface of what seems like a simple buddy-cop setup lies a blend of western action, fantasy, and hellish stakes as Roy must adjust to his new supernatural role.

Pairing up with Jeanne, a mysterious and skilled swordswoman, Roy embarks on a mission to stop a malevolent plan to open a portal to Hell in the old mining town of Red Creek. The threat is immense: if the gateway succeeds, it could allow demonic forces to surge into the living world, unleashing chaos and destruction beyond anything humans have imagined. Together, the mismatched duo battles undead creatures, confronts apocalyptic forces, and races against time to seal the rift between realms.

The film blends comedic banter, supernatural spectacle, and Western iconography, creating a distinct atmosphere where dead lawmen duel with dark forces in dusty towns and haunted landscapes. Despite being released direct-to-video and streaming rather than in theaters, it expands the lore of the R.I.P.D. universe by showing how rigid frontier justice transforms into ghost-busting heroism under cosmic law.

While it doesn’t feature the original stars like Jeff Bridges or Ryan Reynolds from the 2013 movie, or revisit their characters, R.I.P.D. 2 deepens the franchise’s world-building by highlighting new characters and settings while staying true to the bizarre premise of afterlife enforcement — where death is just the beginning of another kind of duty.