Yesterday I FINALLY sat down and watched The Rip 2026, this new cop thriller with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck playing Miami detectives who find 20 million bucks in cash at some random stash house and man I got to say there is a solid idea buried in here but the execution just does not deliver, its takes too long and it becomes a one trick movie. Joe Carnahan has made some decent action stuff in the past but this one feels like he got stuck trying to figure out what kind of movie he wanted to make and ended up with something that drags for way too long before getting to the good parts, the whole setup with these two Boston boys as Miami cops sounds cool and it started pedal to the metal ngl with the killing of the squad captain and then the fight with the FED agent, turn out Affleck character brother in the movie but the problem is you spend over an hour just watching them sit around in this one location just building tension but not making you care about anyone, also what was that weak ass "shooting" , nobody die and Lolo took a hit like it was nothing because they never specified it was just a graze shot. The movie tries to do this mystery thing where you are supposed to figure out who the dirty cop is but it feels so basic with all these obvious clues like Damon telling everyone different dollar amounts just to catch whoever is working with the cartel, the action scenes that do happen are fine I guess because Carnahan knows how to shoot a shootout but when I say ok its just that, the chase sequence was cool too but there are only two of those in the whole movie and the rest is just talking and trying to create suspense that never really lands for me.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32642706/
- Platform: NETFLIX
Rottentomatoes Rating
Source
Seen Damon and Affleck, and not feeling like Miami cops at all, they just feel like two dudes who got transplanted into Florida without any real connection to the place or the vibe and honestly after watching the entire thing I kept asking myself why make them Miami cops in the first place, usually when its Miami you expect the beach, fast boats, gators. The movie starts with the murder of their captain Jackie and then Lieutenant Dane Dumar played by Damon and Detective JD Bines who is Affleck get this crime stopper tip about a house that might have some cash in it although no amount mention, so they grab a dog and head over there with the crew to check it out and thats when they find 20 milion dollars in the attic hidden away with nobody claiming it. The owner of the house says she didnt even know it was up there because it was her grandmothers place and grandma is dead so the house is in probate, now with no one asking for the money back all the trust between these cops starts to fall apart real quick because everyone is thinking about what they could do with that kind of cash. This is where the movie actually works for a bit because director Joe Carnahan knows how to create tense scenes with long pauses and that synth music playing in the background that makes your heart beat faster, there are moments where Damon and Affleck are just staring at each other in the middle of the street not saying anything and the camera is not moving at all so you just sit there waiting for someone to pull a gun or throw a punch and those scenes genuinely made me nervous about what was going to happen next.
Source
The cast is actualy pretty solid with some recognizable faces showing up throughout the movie, you got Sasha Calle who played Supergirl in that Flash movie as the woman who owns the house where they find the money and she does a good job playing someone who claims she dont know anything but also knows enough to warn everyone that they better get out before people start dying. Teyana Taylor shows up as one of the cops and I liked her performance but she wasnt used nearly enough in the movie which is a shame because she brought something interesting to her scenes, then you got Scott Adkins playing Afflecks brother which was great casting because when he was in the shadows he actually looked like he could be related to Ben and the funny part is that he usually does action roles but in this movie he just gets his ass beat by Affleck in the first scene and then dissapear for almost the entire movie literally. The real stars are obviously Damon and Affleck and you can tell these guys have been acting together for so long that they know each others rhythm, I enjoyed watching them slowly turn against each other as the movie goes on and the way it leads to nobody being able to trust anybody at least for a certain point felt earned because of all the little seeds of distrust they planted early on like how Affleck got passed over for promotion or how Damon has had some personal problems that might push him to desperate measures or how Affleck was sleeping with their dead captain and all this stuff adds up to make you question everyone motives.
Source
The problem is that the movie takes way to long to get to the action and when the action finally does come it feels kinda generic and underwhelming compared to what the setup promised, yes the entire plan to shake the tree and see if the rotten apple falls was very smart but still felt like they spend all this time building tension with these phone calls from some disguised voice telling them to take the money and leave before people die and you think its about to turn into one of those bottle movies like Assault on Precinct 13 where bad guys are going to attack and everyone has to defend themselves in this tight space but instead it just becomes a routine action movie with some shootouts and a car chase that are fine but nothing special. Its not until like the third part of the movie where the it rely starts to lose me because it does so many flashbacks to justify all these twists that are happening, like the movie keeps cutting back to earlier scenes to show you clues you missed and after a while it starts to feel like the writers didnt trust the audience to figure things out on their own or maybe they just didnt set things up properly in the first place. There are also way to many endings like the movie feels like it wraps up at least three or four times before it actually ends and by the time you get to the real ending you are just ready for it to be over already, plus that final ending is so corny and heavy handed with Matt Damon having these tatoos on his hands that say stuff about being the good guys and there is this whole message about how good cops exist that feels like propaganda.
I give The Rip a 6.5 out of 10 because it is not terrible but it is definitely not something I would ever watch again, I would recommend it though but only if you are just bored and want to watch a streaming movie to kill some time, the first half of the movie actually works pretty well with some tension and good performances from the cast but the second half falls apart with repetitive plot devises and a ending that tries way to hard to make you feel something that just is not there anymore. Carnahan is a talented director who knows how to shoot action and create atmosphere but this script needed another pass or two to tighten things up and figure out what kind of movie it wanted to be, is it a mystery thriller, is it an action movie, is it a character study about cops and temptation because it tries to be all three and ends up not doing any of them particularly well. Damon and Affleck are fun to watch together and the movie has its moments especially in that middle section where no one trusts each other but overall it just feels like a missed opportunity to do something interesting with a premise that had potential, if they had cut about 20 minutes out and stuck the landing with a better ending this could have been a solid 7 but as it stands its just very average, I know a lot of people love it and its expected since come on its Damon and Affleck, watch it if you are a big fan of these actors but dont go in expecting anything groundbreaking because you will be disapointed by how basic and predictable most of it ends up being despite a few good scenes here and there that show what the movie could have been if everything came together properly.
#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #rip, #netflix, #movie, #review, #thriller, #action, #damon, #affleck, #cops, #miami, #money, #cartel, #carnahan, #detective, #betrayal, #suspense, #drama, #shootout, #crime, #cash, #corruption, #twists, #ending, #boring, #mediocre