At the Movies: Ghost Rider

With both of us having Presidents Day off, my son and I thought we'd take in the new Ghost Rider movie. I went into it having read a number of reviews from comic fans and non-fans alike, many of whom gave it a qualified "good, but cheesy" or "entertaining despite the goofiness" kind of review.

Well, after seeing the movie, I'll definitely confirm the cheesy and goofy elements....but at the same time, isn't that what the Ghost Rider character was always supposed to be? In other words, this was one hell of a faithful adaptation to film (pun intended).

After all, Ghost Rider's supernatural cycle first roared to life at the height of motorcycle stuntman Evel Knievel's popularity in the early 1970's, while at the same time capitalizing on pop culture's renewed interest in the supernatural. Right from the start, Ghost Rider was never intended to embody the elegant frights of Victorian literature, but instead became an almost "patron saint" of a uniquely American supernatural genre.

What would that be, exactly?

Well, it's that wonderfully "caricatured" brand of the supernatural we see at a traveling carnival's haunted house or the extravagant ghouls tatooing the arms of its toothless Carnies. It's the cartoonish demonology of heavy metal bands or the intricate painted flames adorning hell-powered muscle cars. It's the paradoxically plainly silly yet undeniably cool sound of a rumbling Harley engine or a testosterone-fueled drag race a few blocks down. A world where Bon Jovi-spawned demons follow rules, sign contracts and wear fashionable floor-length leather coats.

It's this bizarre hybrid of "Trailer Park Gothic" and Harley-culture machismo that I think the Ghost Rider movie perfectly captures and celebrates. Nicolas Cage delivers an eccentric, Elvis-channeling Johnny Blaze, while Peter Fonda (the Easy Rider himself) plays a convincing "gentleman devil" archetype. Eva Mendes pulls off the near-impossible as a compassionate, intelligent love interest while simultaneously looking like a NASCAR Cleavage Queen. Bringing his trademark cowboy gravitas to the cast was Sam Elliot, imparting his mumbled wisdom to Johnny "Bonehead" Blaze.

Director Mark Steven Johnson (who also directed the unfairly-maligned Daredevil) completely understood the tricky balance he needed to strike between camp and cool, which his brisk pacing of the film helped to pull off. Slow moments of introspection and "high art" would have not only made the goofier elements that much more conspicuous, but would also completely miss the point of the Ghost Rider character itself, much like Ang Lee's pretentious "Hulk" movie did a few years back. No, Johnson seemed to know we weren't here for deep existential insights into the duality of man, or to explore the mysteries and contradictions of faith, and...instead.....gave us an exhilerating, pedal-to-the-metal ride through a garish CGI spookhouse.

So, if you're looking for the glacially-paced horrors of M. Night Shyamalan movies or the "weirdness in the nooks and crannies of the everyday world" stories of Stephen King...this movie isn't for you. However, if you "get the joke" when it comes to the high-octane carnival of screaming hell-cycles and flaming skulls wearing studded leather and pocket chains...step right up.

Rating: Three out of four Flaming Skulls for Ghost Rider

Comments

[Guy LeCharles Gonzalez]

Well said. Anyone looking for Batman Begins or Unbreakable from Ghost Rider is only setting themselves up for disappointment. My wife (who loved Batman Begins, but hated Spider-Man 1 & 2) and I saw it last night and had a good time.

[Mark Engblom]

Guy-

Glad to hear you and your wife also enjoyed it. By the way, what did you think of the Fantastic Four trailer? That one looks like a good time, too...despite the reported absence of Galactus.

[Tom]

I saw the movie with Tommy and have a review scheduled to post tomorrow. We are on much the same page, although I was not as kind about the performances of Mendes and Elliot as you. Glad you liked it the movie.

[Mark Engblom]

Hi Tom! Yeah, even though I didn't really pan the performances of Mendes and Elliot, they didn't exactly blow my mind, either. Like I said, Mendes was put into a rather unenviable position of trying to pull off an older, wiser ex-flame while looking like a floxie from a heavy metal video. Mixed signals to say the least. Elliot...God bless 'im, is the exact same character he's played in his previous two or three hundred films...but when it comes to conveying world-weary, quasi-western authority to a role, not many people can do it like Elliot...even when he's phoning it in like in Ghost Rider.

Whatever the case, though, I look forward to reading your review tomorrow! Readers: Click on Tom's name in the above post to check out his Ghost Rider review, and other good stuff!

[Guy LeCharles Gonzalez]

They showed the Spidey 3 trailer, but not the FF2 trailer at the theater I saw GR in, but I have seen it elsewhere and it's a good one. The absence of Galactus is probably a good thing since I can't imagine there's any way to personify the character and not have him come off ridiculously. I've seen rumors that he'll be more like a destructive force of some sort. The Silver Surfer as the cosmic equivalent of the sandwich board-wearing "The End Is Near" crackpot works for me!

[Mark Engblom]

Eh, you're probably right about Galactus, Guy. However, I still think they could have at least pulled off a "cameo" of sorts for old Helmet Head...or some kind of flashback as told by the Silver Surfer. Sort of the way Sauron was handled in the Lord of the Rings movies: a huge threat, but portrayed in a very mysterious, far-off way. I could picture the Silver Surfer giving a brief snapshot of where he came from or how he came to be, which could include some sort of awe-inspiring shot of Galactus looming overhead or in silhouette.

I guess after I saw this awesome cinematic of Galactus from Marvel's "Ulimate Alliance" video game, it seemed really plausible to include him somehow in the Fantastic Four movie.

I agree...as a character with an action or speaking role, it may not work so hot...but as I said, told as a flashback or featured as a mysterious cameo figure, I think Galactus could have found a place in the movie.

Still...they completely nailed the Silver Surfer, and I guess that's enough for me.

[John Phelan]

If you think this was how "Ghost Rider was always meant to be" you never read J.M. DeMatteis's run on the series, near its end.

This movie violated the entire spirit of the comic. The comics may have unintentionally been funny at times, but they were always meant to be dead serious tales abotu a man fighting his own inner demons.

This was a movie for nine-year olds with no critical facilites. I've never really disagreed with you before, but I have to say the entire review is just plain wrong. MSJ does not get Ghost Rider and anyone who thinks he did also does not get Ghost Rider.

Sorry, but I reccomend actually reading the comics, rather than playing up the comparisons to Evil Kneivel.

[Mark Engblom]

Okay, then.

[John Phelan]

I don't think I meant to sound so harsh. Sorry if that seemed a bit more angry than it should have.

I just posted on my blog - I think this post will explain my position better.
http://comicpundit.blogspot.com/2007/02/ghost-rider-movie.html

[trang]

hey..this is a hectic movie..hehes..so cool..