COMICS-TV Stuff: Ghost Rider : the Movie
An old Nic Cage went riding out one dark and windy day
Ghost Rider the comic character has always looked cool, but his stories have usually stunk. That seems to be the common theme of the new Ghost Rider movie as well. At times, the movie draws you in with its visual displays, but the underlying plot does very little to engage the audience. In other words, if you think the cinematic sequences in your latest Wii or XBox video game are worth watching, then you'll probably dig "Ghost Rider". Then buy the DVD in four months.
Borrowing from all three versions of Ghost Rider (the old western hero, Johnny Blaze and the 90's Danny Ketch version), the story paints a tidy little supernatural picture. At age 17, Johnny Blaze sells his soul to a devil named Mephistopheles to save his dad's life. He's not THE devil, just A devil-- one based on Marvel's Mephisto, with his name changed for whatever purpose (Mephistopheles? Isn't that a band?). Like all good devils, Mephistopheles screws Johnny over, yet holds him to the contract. Johnny's now the devil's bounty hunter...but not for another 20 years or so.
 |
| Nicholas Cage rides through a Creepy Soundstage! |
The movie then jumps forward to the present, where Johnny Blaze headlines PPV's and sells out football stadiums for his latest death-defying jumps. Might have been cool in 1973 when Evel Knievel was hot, but it's a bit hard to accept in 2007. Although, this movie is apparently #1 at the box office in 2007....so maybe packing a stadium to see a motorcycle jump isn't too hard to accept. Johnny's a bit of a weirdo, to boot. He's not exactly social, sips martini glasses full of M&M's and seems to have a subtle appreciation for all things simian. A good portion of the movie is spent trying to get the audience to like Johnny, even sandwiching in a romantic sublpot with a Latina named "Simpson" (played by Eva Mendes. aka, the Latina you get when you can't book Salma Hayek or J-Lo). This can be trying on the audience, because they really just want to see Ghost Rider in all his fiery glory. Not Nicholas Cage playing tag with a news van on an interstate, or reading old religious philosophy books in his loft.
Unlike the rambling Ghost Rider comics of the 90's, the plot starts to tighten up and things begin to make sense. A legend regarding the old west Ghost Rider of the 1880's is worked in quite nicely. Mephistoph...aww, heck, I'm just spelling it as MEPHISTO.... has a rogue son named Blackheart who wants to find a long missing contract for an entire village of souls. Blackheart also has three over-acting demon buddies along for the ride, including one who looks like Rob Zombie. Why three? Well, they're based on the elements, but having three allows Ghost Rider to have at least three different fight sequences and take 'em out, one by one.
When Johnny finally becomes Ghost Rider he's quite the destructive anti-hero. Roaring down the alleys he causes lights to blow, pavement to burn and buildings to ignite. He even fries a poor little iguana at one point. However, while Ghost Rider can drive up buildings, shoot fire out of his hands and create flaming dervishes, his costume isn't all it's cracked up to be. His spiky leather jacket may look cool, but apparently the netherworld doesn't have a good seamstress. Why is this imporant? Well, a key plot point involves Ghost Rider losing his wallet while he's out burning up the town.
Sam Elliot soon arrives as a mentor of sorts to Johnny. As the enigmatic "Caretaker", Keeper of the Magic Shovel, Elliot has his own interest in Johnny, Blackheart and the missing contract of souls. Caretaker becomes a pivotal part to the story and helps to tie things up. Elliot dives into his usual cowboy drawl and you expect him to say: "Beef. It's what's for dinner". Or at least "nice to know The Dude's out there...takin' it easy for all of us sinners".
The film's money shot leads off the final act: Ghost Rider and his new ally riding along the open plains while "Ghost Riders in the Sky" plays. Seriously...an updated version of the old country western tune! The movie automatically gains Cool Points for including that. You know Ghost Rider's going to have a final showdown with Blackheart and save the day, but it's an amusing climax nonetheless.
There are some faults with the movie, of course. In several scenes--- notably Johnny's big jump and the Big Fight at the End--- the sets don't look natural and it's apparent that they're filmed on a soundstage. On top of the over-acting (especially from the demons), some of the special effects are "over special-effected". The romantic subplot between Johnny and Roxanne Simpson is so sappy that it makes Hallmark Valentine's cards seem scary.
As always, when I see a flick, there are always a few nerdy trivia tidbits I pick up. For once, while it was reportedly filmed in Australia, the movie seems to be set in and around Houston, Texas. A nice break from Marvel's usual New York City setting and it adds to the subplots a bit. The opening "MARVEL" montage is tweaked to include only flashing scenes from old Ghost Rider comics. Nice touch. Mephistopheles is played by Peter Fonda of "Easy Rider" fame, an in-joke that might make some old movieheads smirk. Also, I didn't see a Stan Lee cameo, nor was there a "hidden scene" after the credits. But the credits were still informational, since I learned that there was a song called "Satan's Penis" on the soundtrack.
"Ghost Rider" won't amaze you, but it will amuse you for a short time. You sort of know what to expect with a B-level comic book movie (and character for that matter). Yet here's some math to consider: you could spend roughly 3-4 weeks reading Ghost Rider comics or spend 2 hours watching the movie. While neither will blow you away, one will make sense, the other won't.
Comment about this article. Hit the Message Board, or
Contact Me!
Back to TV Stuff index
Back to Comics index
