Review: Ghost Rider (2007)

For some time, I was really looking forward to Ghost Rider. I quite enjoyed director Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil and hoped that he could use the experience from that movie to make this second one even better. When Nicholas Cage signed on for the lead role I got even more interested. Cage is an actor who is known for his passion for comics, besides which he has done some great stuff in movies like Face/Off and Leaving Las Vegas. But then the first images of Cage's character appeared on the net, and the first teaser trailer, and I felt my enthusiasm sink. Then the movie was released in the States and reviewers buried it beneath a mountain of criticism. While I have disagreed with general consensus among critics often in the past, everything they said sounded like it could very well be possible that this was indeed a total and utter crapfest. Then friends of mine started slagging it off, and I started considering not seeing this movie at all.

I'm glad that, finally, I did see the movie after all. I agree with critics that Ghost Rider is pretty bad, with some bad acting (especially from main bad guy Wes Bentley), average special effects, uninspired writing and a list of cliches that's so long it doesn't even fit on the 22 pages of an average comic, but there were also some unexpected plusses in this movie. For instance, at times, it's really funny. I laughed, and not in the 'Man this is so bad'-way I had expected, but because some of the jokes in this movie actually work. Besides that, Nicholas Cage ain't half bad as the main character, a stuntman who sold his soul to the devil and who now has to do his bidding in the guise of a burning skeleton. Cage is a bit over the top but not too much, and he's quite believable as a man who is, to use an understatement, kind of shocked to see flames shoot out of his head during his first transformation to the titular 'hero'. Thanks to Cage, as well as the comedy moments, Ghost Rider is just about bearable.

I didn't care much for the darker stuff in this movie, not because it's scary (as if), but mainly because it's just badly done. They should have for instance told Wes Bentley that when you play one of the most evil beings on the planet, you should try to do more than just look annoyed and let the special effects take over when the time has come to show how evil you really are. And you know, fans of movies with superheroes really wouldn't mind if you try to avoid all those cliches a little bit in the future.

*****

Comments

[Mike]

Hey there is a "fire sale" at imoovie.com on ghost rider. They normally dont carry the maintream stuff, but the've been getting good deals on this stuff an passing the savings on to the customer

[Michelle Pendlelton]

Well, let's just hope that they'll do an awesome job in the upcoming sequel. Just think of it this way Ghost Rider fans: at least we all got to see the Penance Stare in live action. Let's all look forward to the 3D version!