I struggle a
little bit with this one because I want to remain objective, but Ghost Rider
was my favorite comic book and Marvel super hero. When the first one came out,
I was excited and very worried that they would mess it up, and I liked the
first one for the most part. I thought the bike was cool, and they kept to the
comic pretty good. The whole fighting demon things was a little lame and the
soul thing was a bit boring, but all in all I liked it.
I really
wanted a sequel and due to some legal issues, it was delayed. Then hearing
about how Nick Cage wanted to “make the character better” and that the new
director never read any of the comics, I started to lose hope. Yet here it is,
and since Johnny Blaze (Nick Cage) struggles through the movie with a split
personality, I thought it fitting to do this review with mine.
Let’s dive
in shall we?
If you want
to see a kick-ass flaming skull on a motorcycle destroy some bad guys, this
movie is GREAT! Johnny is struggle to keep the Demon of Vengeance inside
because when it comes out, it’s uncontrollable, hungry for vengeance, and sees
every little sin you’ve done.
Close, but the comic clearly stated “innocent
blood” had to be spilled. Not the stupid “illegal downloads” Cage refers to in
his message at the beginning of the film. Thanks for the public service
announcement against piracy, jerk.
The devil,
named Roarke (Ciarán Hinds)…
Mephisto
Who?
The devil in the comic is named
Mephisto, or Mephistopheles…from the first movie… you know.. Peter Fonda’s
role?
Well
the devil has many names.
Convenient isn’t it since they can’t
remember the name they used from the first one. They can’t even stay true to
the first movie. We’re all doomed.
Roarke’s
vessel is breaking down,
and he needs a new body to use to remain in our world, so he makes another deal
with a dying woman named Nadya (Violante Placido) to have a son, Danny (Fergus
Riordan) in which at a later date he can take over to rule. The only way to
protect the boy from Roarke and his henchman Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth) is to
have “The Rider” take him to a sanctuary of monks according to Moreau (Idris
Elba) another protector.
HUH? Ok, seriously, if you want to
introduce another comic book character of the time period like Damien
Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, make another movie about him. The comic didn’t do
so well back in the 70’s when the Devil’s kid rebelled and decided to become a
super hero and this all sounds too goofy. The Devil has never needed a vessel
to do his nasty work. He’s been plaguing man for year? Can you say Daniel
Webster? Adam and Eve? Jesus? HEEEELLLLOOOO?
The special
effects and fight scenes are fun and done well. I struggled with Nick Cage’s
acting as he tried to keep “the Rider” at bay inside his body, but I’m not a
very big fan of his work as it is. As he tracks down the boy and Carrigan,
there are some pretty sweet fight scenes you can get into.
Cage plays a wacko just a little too
well don’t cha think? The whole weird scene where his face morphs as he keeps
Ghostrider inside was in my opinion…. LAME! The fights were ok except for the
rocking, twitchy thing they made the Ghost Rider do. Felt like they were trying
to redo the little girl ghost scene from “The Ring.”
Ok…. That part
was a bit weird for me too.
And what about them taking away….
Shhhh… don’t
tell them about that part. Yeah, ok… that part was dumb, but they needed it for
the plot.
Plot? They have over 100 comic books
of plot already written out, villains, dram, cool art, scenery. Why do these
Hollywood types think their ideas are better? They’re doing Spiderman again,
but starting from scratch. Let me guess, they have more ideas on how to make
one of the most successful comic books better right?
Well, I
agree on that, but that’s not the subject of this review, Ghost Rider is. So if
you want to see a demon thwart the Devil, kick some major butt, and destroy bad
guys, you’ll like the movie.
Angel
What?
Angel? They said Zarathos was an
Angel first.
And?
In the comic, he was a soul
devouring demon. He was never an angel. They just did that for the part…
Shhh… you’re
giving it away.
More Hollywood ideas huh? If you’re
a comic-book fan, you’re in for a lot of WTF moments. I the comic, there are
two Ghost Riders, the 70’s comic in which Johnny Blaze bound to Zarathos, a
soul hungry demon, and the 90’s version who was a Spirit of Vengeance, bound to
protect innocence and punish those who would cause them harm. If anyone would
have read the comics, they wouldn’t have confused the two.
Are all
comic book types as picky as you?
I imagine so.
So
you decide which one of me is right. The Regular Guy….
Or the Comic Book Guy…. psst... pick me... I am sooooo much cooler!
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