Ghost Rider?

[Brown Jenkin]

I beg to differ.

Blade III has Jessica Biel in tight pants. There's GOT to be some redeeming qualities in that!

Well her and the vampire pomeranian were OK but not enough to salvage the movie.

 

[Klaus]

I wouldn't know, never watched Blade III (or II). I just saw her pictures in tight pants...

Klaus "saves my sanity" Ooi

 

[jcfiala]

Not to distract people arguing about Daredevil and Blade III, but I was very pleasantly surprised by GhostRider. I expected it to be pretty bad - and so was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Just saw Ghost Rider. Thin on plot development. A little too much time spent on character deep background that didn't... do much or go anywhere. The bad guys exist here only to be targets for the hero - no development. A tendency to go for random, surprise shocks with sudden, loud, screaming, fanged skulls. All events quite predictable. That's how it struck me anyway.

Definitely not the strongest script but the performances are fine. Eva Mendes wears blouses at least a size too small and bras smaller still which proves a welcome distraction in my book (even if it's not really needed - it's always the gratuitous stuff that works best here . Sam Elliot - excellent as always. Cage's performance didn't overly thrill me but as I say the script was not strong so I don't see it as much his fault the main character just kind of went through the motions.

It's an entertaining movie that never really takes itself too seriously. 7/10
Just don't expect GREATNESS going in and you'll have fun.

 

[jcfiala]

It's an entertaining movie that never really takes itself too seriously. 7/10
Just don't expect GREATNESS going in and you'll have fun.

Yup. I think I can agree with everything he said there.

 

[Pants]

It's an entertaining movie that never really takes itself too seriously. 7/10
Just don't expect GREATNESS going in and you'll have fun.

I went in not really expecting much and it kinda... sucked for pretty much all the reasons you listed. The most annoying thing about the film was the absolutely shoddy camera work. Holy crap was it terrible. I cannot properly convey how absolutely lame the camera work made the movie feel. Any good 'eye candy potentiality' was ruined by it. Without the abysmal camera work, GR would be a mediocre to slightly above mediocre movie, but man, it was bad.

Did I mention the s***ty camera work?

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'm afraid I was disappointed as well. There were a few really fun scenes, and some really good performances, but otherwise... Meh. Plot was way thin and had way too many holes, even for a comic book movie. Many sub-par performances to go along with the good ones. Villains that, with the exception of Mephistopheles, were absolutely unimpressive. And honestly, I thought even the action scenes with GR were pretty lacking in, well, action.

I have to say that, of all the Marvel movies to come out in recent years, the only ones that I enjoyed less than GR were Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Blade III.

Part of the problem was the campy tone of much of the movie. GR is a dark character. Frankly, this movie should have been much closer in tone to the first Blade; instead, I found it closer to Fantastic Four.

 

[Pyrex]

Meh.

Coulda been worse.

Easily could have been better.

Nick Cage overacting was not going to make up for Eva Mendez inability to act.

 

[Aeolius]

from: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=40179

"The creators of Ghost Rider told SCI FI Wire that they once considered a more frightening R-rated version of film, but opted for a more teen-friendly PG-13 rating at the urging of star and producer Nicolas Cage. Cage, who is a big fan of the Marvel Comics series on which the film is based, said that he wanted the character to remain accessible to younger audiences."

Now THAT might have made for an interesting flick.

"Johnson said not to expect a more explicit R-rated version of Ghost Rider to come out on DVD. "There's not an R-rated version," he said. "We didn't shoot that." "

Oh well.

 

[horacethegrey]

from: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=40179

"The creators of Ghost Rider told SCI FI Wire that they once considered a more frightening R-rated version of film, but opted for a more teen-friendly PG-13 rating at the urging of star and producer Nicolas Cage. Cage, who is a big fan of the Marvel Comics series on which the film is based, said that he wanted the character to remain accessible to younger audiences."

Now THAT might have made for an interesting flick.

"Johnson said not to expect a more explicit R-rated version of Ghost Rider to come out on DVD. "There's not an R-rated version," he said. "We didn't shoot that." "

Oh well.

See, this is why the movie sucked for me. Ghost Rider I think, is better portrayed as a horror character rather than as a straight up superhero. When you get right to down to it, the character is a proverbial force of nature who doesn't give a **** on how he goes about dishing out his vengeance. It's a concept that I think the movie only hints at but never quite pulls off. No offense to Nic Cage, but an R rated flick would have been the right way to go.

But, I'm afraid that if Mark Steven Johnson had directed that film as well, it would have been just as awful as this one. I'll say it again, the man is a hack. He clearly cannot convey the drama or tragedy that a story like this needs. Nor can he build up any amount of suspense to keep the film fresh and exciting. And actors such as Eva Mendes (I'll agree with Man in the Funny Hat here, she is a welcome distraction ), and Sam Elliot (what is he doing in a Marvel flick again? Such a great talent deserves better material) are wasted when they should have been utilized better. Clearly, the man needs to stay away from other Marvel properties in the future. They deserve a better film treatment than this.

About the only thing Johnson gets right here is the Rider himself, who, despite my misgivings, is awesome to look at onscreen. I just wish we saw more of him.