Ghost Rider (2007)
Ghost Rider (2007)
Written by Mark Steven Johnson
Directed by Mark Steven Johnson
Runtime 114 min.
3 out of 5
After having made a deal with the devil to save the life of his father when he was young, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is a cursed man. When the devil’s son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), comes to Earth in search of a contract that would bring Hell to the planet, the devil makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider and tasks him with killing Blackheart. If Johnny succeeds, he can have his soul back.
Supernatural excitement and thrills ensue in this paranormal tale about a haunted man facing his own demons—both internally and externally—and what it takes to be the Ghost Rider.
There’re lots of ways of looking at this movie, everything from was it faithful to the comic to simple eye candy to story to themes to—well, you get the idea. For me, it was all right. I like Nic Cage because, well, he’s Nic Cage and usually just plays himself, it seems. Sometimes he steps outside that, but in Ghost Rider, he was Nic Cage. Ghost Rider did look amazing in this, looked real. That first transformation sequence was insane! It’s hard to sell the image of a walking, burning skeleton in leather, but they pulled it off here.
The motorcycle—trippin’. Can you imagine owning a hog like that? Know how many heads you’d turn? And if you could ride up a building like he did? Yeah, thought so.
The story’s pretty good and carries its own mythology and purpose. The elemental demons that Ghost Rider has to go up against were pretty cool and tough to beat, and the effects needed to portray them looked real. It’s amazing what Hollywood can do these days.
This movie got a lot of mixed reactions from fans. For me, it was okay. Wasn’t one of those superhero movies I could watch over and over again. At the same time, it did do its job in getting me interested in the sequel, which is on my to-check-out list, so that definitely has to count for something.