Cast: B-
Plot: C
Special Effects/Stunts: B
Similarity to Comic: C
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Sam Elliot
Rating:PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page
This movie had some confusing plot points and it started off being pretty accurate to the comic book but then just kind of... blazed off. I definitely prefer Mark Steven Johnson's previous superhero movie (Daredevil) to this one.
The Good: One thing that makes comic book franchises so successful is the fact that every hero is different, and the ones that aren't don't make it. For example you have heroes that defend one neighborhood (Daredevil), you have heroes that defend entire cities (Spider-Man, Batman), you have heroes that defend the planet from intergalactic foes (Superman, Green Lantern) and heroes everywhere in-between. So naturally there's a hero that defends us from Hell, an idea that I find incredibly creative and intriguing. And with that I'm done talking about the plot for now.
Eva Mendes did okay, I can never really tell if her acting is really that good or if she plays characters similar to herself in real life all the time, but regardless it was a good performance. Sam Elliot was really good, I wish his character had a bigger role though. I thought two of the best actors in the movie were the kids that played young Johnny and Roxanne, they should have given some of the adults in this movie acting lessons.
The Bad: Pretty much the entire plot. It was difficult to follow, wasn't very true to the comic, and filled with plot holes. I really like the idea of a superhero who fights demons, but this movie took a good idea and squashed it. For the most part the effects were pretty good, but there were just a couple parts that you could tell they didn't put a lot of time or money into and they should have. One or two bad shots ruins the preception of the effects for the rest of the movie.
Some cruicial roles were filled with questionable actors. Like the Ghost Rider. I'm still not sure what to think, Nicolas Cage seems to play the same character in all of his movies but I feel like he changed it up just enough to maybe make it work? I spent so much time trying to decide that I got distracted from the movie then gave up. Another poor actor was the guy who played Blackheart. First off "Blackheart"? Really? Talk about a generic evil guy name. Second, he was a pansy. Not in his actions really, but his voice? His hair? Something about him just didn't say "evil villain".
The Interesting: I really like how when Johnny becomes the Rider, he seems to lose all intelligence and barely retains the ability to speak english, yet he still knows that he loves Roxanne. I like how all he has to do is say that he comtrols the fire and all of a sudden he can control it, without practice or hard work. I like how Blackheart was dumb enough to absorb all those souls then look right into Ghost Rider's eyes, and why did that kill him anyway? He had no soul, at the most it should have just taken all those other souls out of him.
I thought that giving him a fire chain for a weapon was a very creative touch, though some of the ways he used it didn't really make sense. I was surprised at the end how much damage they were able to do to Super Blackheart using guns. And how come Ghost Rider kept his curse? And why couldn't the devil just take it back from him the same way he gave it to him? These are the questions I asked myself through the whole film.
Conclusion: Here is another good idea that Marvel killed. They could have turned it into a darker comic, maybe put some violence, bad words, and sex or something in the movie and make it rated R, that would have fit this type of character better I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment