Ghost Rider
Posted By Ardellis on February 17, 2007
Since I had yesterday off and my husband only works until mid-afternoon on Fridays, we went to an early showing of Ghost Rider last night. We were well aware that it had been panned by everyone from The Boston Globe to Ain’t It Cool News, but I adored the comic book when I was a kid and had to see it anyway.
And you know what? I had a grand time. Yes, the film is a huge and pungent slice of fromage. Yes, the first part of the story, where we see how Johnny Blaze got suckered into his situation, was atrocious. Yes, some of the special effects could have been better and some of the sets could have looked less fake and some of the dialogue scenes could have been less ham-fisted. Yes. From a technical and artistic standpoint, this is not a highlight in the careers of anyone associated with it.
But.
Nicolas Cage is obviously having too much fun in the title role. Peter Fonda chews a lovely bit of scenery as Mephistopheles. Sam Elliot is marvelous as the Caretaker. There is something there that vaguely resembles a decent plot. They even included the legend of Carter Slade for us old-timers. And the soundtrack includes Ozzy and ZZ Top, and, yes — oh yes indeedy — the scene that uses an instrumental passage from (Ghost) Riders in the Sky is almost worth the price of admission all by itself. I’ve been humming the tune to myself ever since we left the theater.
Cheesy it is, and laughably cheesy at that. But a great deal of that cheese is absolutely deliberate, so I felt I was laughing with the cast and crew rather than at them most of the time. Check your brain at the door, though.
The previews all made it look fun and I was already planning on going, but you’ve just sealed the deal. Thanks!
(I wish we were up there and could have seen it with you guys.)
It would have been even more fun in a group. It would have rivalled my memory of seeing Masters of the Universe with a mob of college friends and sitting in the front row, throwing popcorn at Skeletor.
But considering the weather up here, I think it would make more sense for me to wish that Andy and I were down in your neck of the woods instead, eh?
Good point, that. It’s supposed to get up into the sixties next week!
Hee. Flinging popcorn at Skeletor sounds very satisfying.
It was. I’m not so sure the parents of all the little kids behind us thought so, but we were having too much fun to worry about being bad role models.