|
-
News
- Features
- Events
Calendar
- Editorials
- Monthly
Zine
- Offworld
Report
- Our Daily
RSS Feed
- Movie/TV
Reviews
> Recent movies
> Movies by year
> Movies by title
- Book
Reviews
> Recent books
> Books by year
> Books by title
- Home
- Worlds
- Biography
- Bibliography
- Appearances
- Reviews
- Blog
- Community
- Press
- Links
Become
an Advertiser
- Web
Site Directory
- Search
the Net
- StephenHunt.net
- WoodenRocket.com
- Check
your E-mail
- Non Sci-Fi
News
|
Ghost Rider: Frank's take
01/03/2007 . Source: Frank Ochieng 
Over the years the emerging genre of big-budgeted comic book adaptations has had its share of mixed reaction, says Frank. Specifically, the Marvel Comics superhero flicks are received with ambivalent forethought. For every successful or critically acclaimed Stan Lee staple ranging from the immensely popular Spider Man movie series we have to endure the duds such as Daredevil and The Fantastic Four. Buy Ghost Rider in the USA - or Buy Ghost Rider in the UK  In writer-director Mark Steven Johnson's flaccidly erratic action-adventure Ghost Rider the fragile reputation of another Marvel Comics creation hits the skids. In short the rollicking exploits of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider's transformation from the animated printed pages to the big screen has all the effective staying power of a busted spark plug.
Johnson, who also helmed the aforementioned lacklustre Daredevil, merely creates a generically pseudo-sensationalized B-movie confection that dazzles in its cheesy visual makeup without skilfully capturing the mystique or imagination of Lee's flaming-faced anti-hero. Unfortunately, Ghost Rider tries to be too flippant for its own good. The ill-advised cheeky interpretation by Nicholas Cage (remember folks...he was almost the Man of Steel a few years ago) and the movie's knee-jerk response to the forced and unfounded humour sputters along more convincingly than a defective kickstand dragging on a rocky country road.
There's never any genuine urgency of Ghost Rider being an eye-popping spectacle where you would expect the reliable larger-than-life antics of chameleon Cage to inhabit the barbecue-skull biker with creative panache. Instead, this spiritless supernatural sideshow wallows in utter ridicule and never is really focused on the target it wants to be at hand. Is this supposed to be a campy showcase of redemption?
Does Johnson want Ghost Rider to strictly register as an off-kilter escapist flick that dares to take the liberty in embellishing on the gonzo-style gumption of Marvel's motorcycling menace? Johnson wants to parlay Cage's non-conformist rover as an impish outsider full of chaotic consciousness. However, the misguided rag tag ramblings of Ghost Rider will simply wipe away from one's memory bank faster than a chintzy ink-stained tattoo on a sweaty forearm.
Motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze (Cage) owes a debt of gratitude to the devilish one in Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) for saving his father's life years ago after the elder Blaze (Brett Cullen) was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Since the showboating biker was spared a favour by the opportunistic demon, it's payback time. Thus, Blaze must assume the persona of the fire-breathing skeleton known as the Ghost Rider and do the ominous bidding for Mephistopheles by collecting on the hellish contracts of other desperate souls. Naturally Blaze/Ghost Rider has sacrificed plenty in his new role as "enforcer"- for one, this meant losing his loving bond with gal-pal Roxanne (Eva Mendes). Hey, a deal is a deal and Blaze must conform to the wicked ways of Mephistopheles' dire expectations.
Of course there are other major players that figure into the morbid mix besides the pending arrangement concerning Blaze/Ghost Rider and Mephistopheles. For one, Mephistopheles' bad seed son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) wants to usurp devious Daddy Dearest and develop his own inspired version of welcomed mayhem on earth. With his chosen henchmen (posing as the planetary natural resources), Blackheart looks to upstage the old man and collect on the biggest hell-raising contract ever. Mephistopheles won't hear of such divisive foolishness from his wickedly ambitious offspring and wants Ghost Rider to put a serious wrinkle in the progressive plans of Blackheart to manhandle the vulnerable planet.
Ghost Rider, thankfully, has his trusty backup. Supporters such as Caretaker (Sam Elliott)-Blaze's respected older buddy from the circuit-conveniently enter the equation. Also, comical companion Mack (Donal Logue from TV's "The Knights of Prosperity") is there to accompany Blaze whenever the proverbial butter hits the pan. Will Johnny Blaze be able to handle the pressure of dealing with his duel identities and try to maintain the fury that burns inside and outside (much like fellow Marvel Comic cohort Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk?) Can Blaze/Ghost Rider save the world from the maddening momentum of Blackheart and his brutish band of misfits?
Clearly, Ghost Rider is a meandering mess and its inert quirkiness doesn't help out at all. Johnson randomly sprays the movie with dim-witted dialogue meant to be hip and haughty but only comes off looking rather lame in conception. In fact, the running gag where a fire-burning fiend such as Ghost Rider embracing the soft and sugary music of The Carpenters is supposed to be a winking moment at the burning biker's masculinity and/or sensitivity.
Silly-minded bits and other hit-and-miss hilarity render this vehicle a hollow hoot-in-a-half. The characterizations are flimsy and flat and couldn't even hold a candle to the scene-chewing, tacky guest-star villains on the old 60's Batman TV series. The whole overwrought production feels as if it was cobbled together with shades of dippy drama interspersed with a phoney injection of outlandish vibes.
Cage, a well-known comic book enthusiast, does have a heck of a time hamming it up in the scorching skin of his alter ego Ghost Rider. Still, his over-the-top shtick as a racing rascal somehow wears thin and his free-spirited performance suffers from such a pretentious gesture. Mendes might as well be as invisible as Wonder Woman's airplane because she doesn't make any impression as Cage's on-screen love interest Roxanne (actually, she ought to be playing fortysomething Cage's daughter much less his bland main squeeze!). As the resident baddies, both Fonda and Bentley are strained and convey the components of exasperation more so than excitement as the toothless evildoers.
Sadly, Ghost Rider wasn't really a heralded Marvel Comic concoction to begin with as he takes a reluctant backseat as C-list consideration to the other highly desired personalities in Stan Lee's crime-fighting community. Sure, Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider has his fair share of a cult following. Nevertheless, one wonders if the diehard sci-fi/comic book crowd would have second thoughts in embracing a flammable fighter-for-justice seeker that ironically gives off inconsequential smoke signals in a fractured fantasy that outwits itself in almost every inconceivable way.
Frank Ochieng
(c) Frank Ochieng 2007
|
|
