I’ve been bad mouthing so many films it’s time to good mouth one. It’s not that R.I.P.D. is great, but it’s good, a perfectly pleasurable way to spend ninety, instead of agonizing way to spend 180.

I admit: saw it largely because the release date had been pushed so many times, and was hoping for a The Raven. Instead, kind of a decent genre film, with thought out bits, including cumin for scaring the dead, and how the avatars of the resurrected cops would look. I cried at the end when he’s reunited with his dead wife, which is more than I can say for About Time. And, for the Scott in all of us, Mr. Bridges even sings a song about being skullfucked by coyotes.

Speaking of newspapers, got to see the Guardian weekend edition ad with this showing. The use of the term ‘owned’ is so early 2012 making fun of being so 2007, which they might know. If they had reporter on staff.

Besides the need to appear an old crank, I think I was more taken aback by its general lambasting. Recently having seen Pacific Rim, it made it so clear how important character tropes are to a serviceable film. Pacific Rim, another pretty good film, may have forced the underdog trope, but it works.

I know this because R.I.P.D. is the underdog of films. It’s not great, but you’re rooting for it automatically because everyone inexplicably hates it so much, especially given the general not burning every print (erasing every DLP package?) attitude given to the likes of Man of Steel, Star Trek: Pretty Gosh Darn Dark or The World’s End. I know critics who hate everything can’t get jobs, any more than journalists reporting news can. But I remain baffled by the sense that the loud and impressive can beat out the pretty good. And so, in praise of the okay: