10 Box Office Flops Much Better Than Their Reputations

5. R.I.P.D.

Budget: $130 million

Worldwide Gross: $78.3 million

Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are two dead lawmen, who are many, many decades apart in "age", who are responsible for defending the living world from ne'er-do-well ghosts who refuse to move on to the next realm. It's equal parts Men In Black and Ghost. (And maybe Ghostbusters, too, if you're willing to stretch just a little bit.) Also, it's directed by the same guy behind the surprise action thriller RED.

It's quite possible that the expectations for R.I.P.D. were far too high to ever satisfy the wide scope of viewers this was hoping to draw. And while certain elements of it fall flat, like the Patrick Swayze-inspired subplot where Reynolds tries to contact his wife from beyond the grave, as a straight-up buddy cop movie this works surprisingly well.

Bridges has been criticised for being too mush-mouthed as the ex-cowboy who struggles to understand modern concepts, and although he's not exactly up to his True Grit standard, the guy is a !*$% hoot, operating at maximum cantankerousness. Reynolds mostly does his sardonic-with-a-dash-of-charm schtick throughout, which works better than it should with his occasionally lacklustre delivery.

All in all, this is a movie based on a comic about undead police officers chasing around various types of ghosts and goblins while tossing off one-liners and acting like dicks to each other. What more do you want from this type of movie??