Ghost Rider

Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 27, 2007

Take one part bad director, one part bad screen writing and top it off with a random mix of campy dialogue and you might just have a recipe for Hollywood disaster. And while after you throw in some Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes and some cool explosions, the final dish may not be fine dining but its better than a TV dinner.

When young Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) finds that his daredevil (no pun intended) father has become sick, he would do anything to help. When the Devil (Peter Fonda) makes him an offer that he cannot refuse, Johnny gives up his soul to help his sick father. Johnny lives the rest of his life looking for a sign that he is not destined only to end up in the grasp of the Devil. He pulls death-defying stunts off one after another, testing the waters to see if his talent is real or if he is just under the protection of the Devil to fulfill his end of the bargain. When Johnny meets his lost love Roxanne (Eva Mendes), he sees it as a sign that he is not just destined for life of solitude. When Johnny tries to mend his broken relationship with Roxanne, the Devil calls on him to fulfill his burden as the Ghost Rider.

Another Marvel Comics character goes to waste, at the hands of a vigilante director. Mark Steven Johnson,unlike some of the great comic villains, has developed quite a skill for killing super heroes. Johnson has no known super powers, like being able to manipulate metals or super strength, instead he has been given the power by Hollywood to write horrible screenplays. Heroes, instead of falling valiantly in a blaze of glory, fall into oblivion and simply are forgotten once Johnson blasts his mighty fingertips onto his keyboard and casts our heroes into movie bomb exile. I could reference Daredevil, and some of you may ask “who is Daredevil?”. I would simply say that my point has been well made. Johnson took Ben Affleck and a bad screenplay and outfitted them with a Daredevil costume, and I can’t say that he did much different with his newest flick.

Ghost Rider lacks and contains the certain elements that are characteristic of a comic book film. While armed with super powers, super special effects and super digital sound, Ghost Rider aims to please the senses and succeeds. However, the comic style campy dialogue, over-the-top villainy and rushed storyline/character development destine this film to be another junkyard hero flick. In short, Ghost Rider will excite your senses but numb your mind. The film will constantly leave you asking yourself “Why/How did that happen?”

If there is anyone I can blame (other than Mark Steven Johnson) it would be Nicolas Cage. The man has Ghost Rider tattooed on his body, a pure sign of commitment. When an actor can see his character being dragged through the mud he should speak up, especially when the actor loves the character. Of all actors Nicolas Cage could have put the production on hold and requested a script re-write or even some more Eva Mendes screen time to distract the audience. Cage could have used his star power to sway the studio, but maybe the 3 hour a day hairpiece-application process (and the glue involved) that he had to endure killed some of his brain cells.

Read more articles by Brian C. Gibson