:
Nicolas Cage,
Nicolas Cage,
Eva Mendes,
more...
:
Mark Steven Johnson,
Mark Steven Johnson
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Sony Pictures
: Action, Comic Books, Superheroes, Marvel
: 110 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
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When a motorcycle-riding stuntman offers his soul to Mephistopheles in order to save the life of the one he loves most, he is forced to play host to a powerful supernatural entity whose flaming skull visage strikes fear into the heart of his enemies in this feature-film version of the long-running comic series. By day, Johnny Blaze (actor and comic-book devotee Nicolas Cage) is one of the world's best-known stuntmen, but when the sun goes down and he is in the presence of evil, the death-defying daredevil bursts into flames to become the indestructible, motorcycle-riding antihero known to the world as the Ghost Rider. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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| Where's the action?
by Hags888
May 8, 2008 - 6:51 AM PDT
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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I will preface this review by saying I knew little to nothing about the comic book character Ghost Rider before viewing this movie. I had seen some cover art, and had an idea of what Ghost Rider looked like, but that was pretty much it. So, while I thought this movie was pretty lame, I can't help but wonder if I had already known the character intimately from the comics if that would have helped, but I'm thinking that it wouldn't have.
So, I'll jump right in with the bad. There were two big things that stood out for me, the first being a total lack of character development and the other being a near lack of action. This was supposed to be a super-hero movie, right? So, where's the action? We get plenty of scenes of the Ghost Rider on his bike chasing demons, and we also get some 1 on 1 face-offs with the Ghost Rider using his chain-whip, but those weren't really "action-packed." How exciting is it watching someone sit on a bike or swing a whip? Even the daredevil stunt stuff with Johnny Blaze was boring, maybe because they put all the jumps in slow motion?
I didn't feel a connection to the characters at all, and this is largely because they didn't spend enough time getting to know the characters or explaining the reasons behind the plot motivations. We meet Johnny Blaze when he is a young, up and coming carnival rider, but we don't learn anything about what makes him tick. We learn he has a forbidden love interest, but we don't care. Then flash-forward and Johnny Blaze is a house-hold name daredevil rider, and we still don't care. The major plot points needed fleshing out, especially the motivations behind the demons and their interest in some "scroll", which also isn't explained very well (what does the scroll do again?). So Johnny sold his soul to the devil to save his father, and the devil will eventually give him powers (aka, turning him into the Ghost Rider), but the powers and what the Ghost Rider actually does (and why) aren't explained until much later in the film, and way after the fact, ie, way after we've stopped caring. This is where I wonder if I had known previously what the Ghost Rider comic was all about, that some of the plot stuff and character development would have made more sense.
At this point in the review I would normally point out a few good things and the wrap up with a recap of the bad, but I can't even do that. The CGI stuff was unrealistic to the point where the Ghost Rider's flaming head just looked cartoony, and the music was trite and ill-conceived. Even Peter Fonda and Sam Elliot gave flat performances (the latter more stereotypical than flat). Sure Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes are good eye candy, but so what? This movie did nothing for me, and I think it *could* have been so much more in the hands of a more capable writer/director, especially one who could have packed a little more action into the mix (at least Elektra and Daredevil HAD action scenes). |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 4.35)
40 Votes
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