I saw Ghost Rider on Friday. I've been a long-time fan of the comic, and still have much of the first and second series(es?). I see the movie brought around enough interest to revive the comic for a third series, start up another limited-issue series (Trail of Tears) and got them funding to release the Finale of the second series, which got pulled when Marvel hit hard times in the 90's.

I had low expectations for the movie, (as those who read my previous blog posts would attest) and I would say that helped a lot, because I thought the movie was great. I hear it is doing well at the box office, so I might have been wrong to rail on them for refusing to let critics review the movie before it's release date. That is usually the Kiss of Death for movies, but it sounds like it might have been a good strategy, because the bad reviews from the critics could have had a huge effect on ticket sales.

As it was, the review-seeking public was pushed more towards bloggers and word-of-mouth, which (arguably) would give a more-favorable-than-average review, and almost certainly a more-favorable-than-a-real-movie-critic review. I mean come on, it's a comic book movie, not Cinema. Do you really think that Donald Logue will get Best Supporting Actor? People tell me he kind of looks like me. Or maybe it's that I kind of look like him...

I didn't mind that the movie took liberties with the original story, because what movies-remade-from-comix don't? And I didn't mind Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze, although I thought I would. Cage has a goofy-cool about him which is hard to explain. I know he doesn't really act much, he's just that-a-way, but I'm not sure anyone else could have done this movie with the proper level of 'goofiness'. Johnny Depp maybe? Val Kilmer? (BTW, Where IS Val Kilmer?) Maybe Edward Norton? Certainly NOT Brad Pitt, and shame on you for even thinking such a thing.

John Cusack, that's it. He would have been a great Johnny Blaze. But Cage was fine.

The bad guys were cool, but Way too wimpy. I suppose they sacrificed quality for volume. Effects were typical Hollywood-Overdone, but hey, in Hollywood they say, "You want CG with that?" like it was French Fries or something. I would expect no less than to see Ghost Rider drive up one side of a skyscraper and down the other.

The story was just right. As a matter of fact, fighting off the elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water is a great idea! Maybe I should write a book like that!

Oops, too late. I already did. Oh well, I guess there's plenty of room in the genre for interpretation. Besides, I think a sexy, dark, Asian female assassin who uses throwing knives and short swords is Way cooler than a biker with a flaming skull.

Way.

Sam Elliott did a tremendous job, reprising the voice and role of The Stranger from The Big Lebowski.

All in all a reasonable value for your entertainment dollar, er, eight-and-a-half dollars.

For those looking for a solid standalone Ghost Rider comic, Ghost Rider: The Road to Damnation 6-issue series is top-notch, both with art and story.


Flame on,
-CZ

Labels: Hollywood, movie reviews