I never saw this when it came out in theaters or even on DVD, for reasons I honestly don't know. I decided to get this on Blu-Ray from Netflix when I heard they are making a sequel. Here's what I thought.
Marvel has proved that comic book movies can be great blockbuster films, with the Spider-Man trilogy and the recent Iron Man series. I had never heard of Ghost Rider since the movie came out, but from what I've read, there seems to be a big fan base for the character. I just think it's odd that Ghost Rider gets a movie instead of better known Marvel heroes like Captain America (its a good thing Cap is getting his own movie next year).
Anyway, I'll start with the acting. It's outright atrocious. Remember when I made fun of Nick Cage in Knowing when he drops to his feet when his child gets taken away by the aliens? Well, when he turns into the flaming skeleton, its even worse. It almost looks like he's having a seizure, and if I was the director, I would have called an ambulance. The girl thats in it (don't know her name, she's from Will Smith's Hitch, though) does a pretty bad job as well, making a lot of the scenes painfully awkward when Ghost Rider tries to implicate a love story into it. But by far the worst is the actor for the villain, Blackheart. They couldn't have picked a worse actor for the antagonist. They basically picked a really nerdy guy that makes you want to laugh instead of scared. His cheesy one-liners make it all the worse, and I found myself actually lauging out loud when he said something like "You'll pay for this!". The acting in this film brings it down a lot.
I think the plot is alright. Its the standard cheesy comic book story that I think a lot of fans would appreciate, but regular film reviewers frown upon. Theres nothing incredibly exciting here, with not too many plot twists or surprises, but us comic book movie fans are used to that and we except the fact that we're here to watch the cool stunts and effects, and this is where Ghost Rider really shines.
Considering this is 3 years old, the effects are pretty good. If this movie came out today, I might compare it to Avatar and say that special effects are backtracking, but for its time its pretty cool. I really like how the character himself was done, and man, that bike was flippin sweet. My favorite part of the whole film is when Ghost Rider jumps right off the building, and we get an awesome slo-mo sequence. But the visuals of Ghost Rider can't save it entirely.
So overall, Ghost Rider isn't anything that special. Its acting is terrible, but the light plot that doesn't take itself too seriously and the fun visuals make Ghost Rider a decent movie, but not one you will be watching over and over again. I would not recceomend the Extended Cut, as the movie seemed to drag on a little to much, especially in the last scene. I will be looking forward for the sequel, but I don't think there's anyone who will be counting the days until the release date. Ghost Rider is decent, and if your in the mood for some cheesy comic book action, this wouldn't be a terrible choice.
C+
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