Ghost Rider
Sometimes it just blows my mind how many comic book based movies have come out in the last couple years. Granted most have them have been pretty much garbage, but the sheer number is insane. Now from the man that had at least a hand in bringing us two of those films (Daredevil and Elektra) comes Ghost Rider. Just for the record when looking for a director what studio exec was thinking “Hey you know who’d be perfect to direct a big action extravaganza? That guy who made Simon Birch.”
As part of a father son stunt team Johnny Blaze is distraught when he learns that his father has cancer. In an attempt to save his life Blaze sells his soul to Mephistopheles, but like any good Faustian tale he gets screwed over in the bargain. Not only is he double crossed but he is destined to spend the rest of his days changing into the living embodiment of vengeance, Ghost Rider.
There’s a reason this movie was pushed back from last summer to February and I’m not buying it was due to adding some CGI shots. A good portion of the actual comic book parts of this film just don’t really work. Some of the blame goes to poor writing. We don’t need the whole storyline with the cops trying to get Johnny Blaze, because they think he’s a serial killer. It unnecessarily complicates the story for no other reason that to add a shot of Ghost Rider lassoing a helicopter, which is just stupid. Not to mention it brings up some rather unfortunate questions such as: apparently if Ghost Rider gets stabbed then when he changes back to Johnny Blaze he has the wound, so if Ghost Rider gets shot up by twenty cops then shouldn’t Johnny be, I don’t know, dead?
My understanding is that Nicolas Cage wrote parts of this script and man did he play to his own strengths. Cage has a pretty good sense of comedy that allows him to pull off Blaze’s love for The Carpenters. I don’t think a lot of people really expected to see some fairly dry humor in this film so in the screening it either slipped right passed people at first or it took them some time to warm up to it. Either way, by half way through they were in to it. Being a fan of Cage’s Con Air and The Wicker Man, I was hoping that these laughs would be there. Cage’s whole demeanor is great. He’s dressed like Elvis in his ’68 comeback special, while strutting and giving the hand gestures of the Las Vegas Elvis. It could have been parody, but instead is subtle enough that some may miss it.
Eva Mendez completely understands what’s going on here. She does a fine job playing off cage and even on her own she’s perfect. The only criticism I can think of is that if you put her up on screen in a skin tight outfit and her shirt unbuttoned to her naval, don’t expect your audience to pay attention to anything else that’s going on. Unfortunately, as good a Mendez is, not everyone is in on the joke. First off, we need people to quit confusing Henry Fonda with Peter Fonda. Henry Fonda is the brilliant Academy Award winning actor whose career spanned fifty years, while Peter Fonda is his son. Like most every other supporting actor in this film he’s amped up to eleven and terribly over the top. The only difference is that apparently he goes to Bram Stoker’s barber.
This is one big mish mash with about three different films crammed together. You have a pretty good comic book movie with the actual meat of the story, then there’s all the comedy with Cage and Mendez and finally you have the whole thing with Ghost rider running from the cops that is just pointless. Aside from some over acting, most of the big mistakes come in that final section. This isn’t the best comic book film to date by far, it may not even be in the top ten, but as a cheesy, mindless spectacle it’s not bad. The character doesn’t translate well to the screen to begin with, but I wasn’t upset that I had sat and watched it. However, with Oscar nominees still out there I could have Netflixed Con Air and spent my money more wisely.
The Grade
- Story: C
- Acting: C+
- Visuals: B
- Originality: B+
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: C+
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