Back-Story: Johnny Blaze [played in the beginning by Matt Long, and later on by Nicolas Cage] loves Roxanne Simpson [played at first by Raquel Alessi, and later by Eva Mendes]. Blaze is a carnie with his dad, doing motorcycle stunts. Papa Blaze has cancer and is very clearly dying. Roxanne is going to leave town soon, and Johnny just isn’t going to be able to leave with her. Then the devil shows up and promises to save Papa Blaze from cancer, in exchange for Blaze’s soul. Blaze accepts, but he dies the next day in a stunt gone wrong. So, naturally, Blaze jumps town. Years later, Blaze is famous stuntman and Roxanne is a reporter.
The Plot: When Blaze sold his soul to save dear old dad, he agreed to become Ghost Rider in the future. Well, around the same time Roxanne comes back into his life, so does the devil. And then, Blaze is torn between what he has to do and what he wants to do. Unfortunate, I know. You see, the funny thing is that the stuff the devil wants Blaze to do isn’t really that bad. Kill murderous demons, and claim a few sinners along the way. Not a terrible gig. Plus, you get to be in fire and ride up buildings and use a chain as a whip, a grappling hook, a lasso, and even a fan. Sounds to me like this gig is right up Blaze’s alley. And in the end, Blaze keeps the power- I’m not sure how someone can double cross Satan when without Satan, you’d have no power, but whatevs. Anyway… So apparently, the devil’s brat kid wants to absorb all these super evil souls and become ultra evil himself, making hell on earth. And for whatever reason, Satan’s not cool with hell on earth, and in comes Ghost Rider to… save the day…? Does anyone else think it’s odd that Satan wants to save earth so badly?
My two cents: Well, let’s not kid ourselves about the acting. The dad from Grounded for Life is one of Blaze’s handymen, and he’s probably the best actor in the film. Now, I don’t know if you’ve seen his bit work in films like, oh, let’s say Blade, but it’s humorously terrible. And, sorry, but Eva Mendes is only ever really cast in parts because she’s cute. By the way, did anyone else notice that she had a slight lisp in this movie? Has she always had that? And Nicolas Cage. Oh god, Nicolas Cage. For starters, Nicolas Cage does not act. Period. He stars in films, but he does not act. More or less, they grab him and say, “we’re gonna pay you [blank amount] to just stand where we tell you and respond when people say [blank name].” Don’t get me wrong, I love him for this. Him and Keanu Reeves both. But it doesn’t make for a high quality piece of cinema. And I’m sorry, but the devil, aside from the whole killing dad the next day bit, really isn’t all that bad. I don’t particularly dislike him or what he does in this movie.
Stars: Well, I think it’s unfair in general to rate all movies on the same scale. As far as BLOCKBUSTERS go, this is a 4.5 –but as far as regular cinema is concerned, this is a 2.5 at best. Sorry guys, but you cast Nicolas Cage. You had to have known it wasn’t going to be great. Plus, the graphics; not all that great. I remember at least two scenes from birds-eye-view where someone oops-ified the shot by making ghost rider as big as some of the houses he was riding by. How the hell do you fuck up a far away, out of focus shot like that? The world may never know. Plus, the bad guy you really hated was Satan’s kid, not Satan. And that’s just weird. PS, why does the devil want to save earth? Dear Hollywood, stop doing that. Seriously. I’m sure the Devil wouldn’t want to save us. So stop writing him that way, k?
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5 comments:
Hey NiXon...your review of Ghost Rider hits the mark, albeit a tad late. I was so disappointed by the hokey tone and direction of the film and felt shorted, since I read Ghost Rider comics as a kid and know that a better film could have been made.
I also agree that Nicholas Cage isn't the most complex of actors in the guild, and that most of the characters he plays can easily be transferred from one film to the next.
There are two of his films, however, in which I thought he really shined as an actor. First of which is Leaving Las Vegas. At the end of that film I wanted to drink my own self to death.
The other is the remake of The Wicker Man. Although I never saw the original, this version had me creeped out and good ole' Nick amazed me with his ability to transfer the "fear" his character was feeling to me in such a way that I almost peed my pants while watching on the sofa! Or maybe it was all the beer I drank before and during the course of the movie...oh well, who will know for sure?!?
Nick Cage gets my vote for best "actor" of the past Galactic Year!!!
Glen, thank you. I was actually copying a post I made when it was more time-relevant... this being a new collaborative journal, I wanted to help get it off the ground and get some posts in it. That's one of my more favorite reviews...
And as for Kyle, yea, I love Nicky boy. Mostly because he doesn't really act.
I saw Wicker Man. And I agree, that indeed, it was one of his better roles... But that's like being the smartest kid in special ed. So, you know.
And I can't remember ever seeing Leaving Las Vegas. I'll have to check it out.
My Nick Cage favorite... probably Raising Arizona. That's the time frame that his acting style was most passable as... well an acting style.
OH WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! My favorite Nick flick of all time is Face/Off. He plays the lunatic angle pretty well. Plus, it made me nearly piss myself laughing (though, I don't think that was the intention).
NiXon...you have to rent Leaving Las Vegas...he was actually nominated for an Oscar for lead actor in that movie and should have won it if it wasn't for Liam Neeson in Schindler's List. The long and short of the plot is a guy who has lost everything in life and decides to commit suicide by going to Vegas and drinking himself to death. literally...it's GOLD Jerry...Gold!
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