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Ghost Rider Review by James Farmer
Ghost Rider opened in my
area (Greenville, Mississippi) yesterday, 2-16-07 and it was greatly
anticipated by not only myself but a lot of other people in this area.
If you're familiar with
the Marvel comics Ghost Rider, then be prepared to be disappointed. This
version is nothing like the comic book character.
IT'S BETTER!
I had this idea that it
would be based (perhaps somewhat loosely) on the original version of the
character, which first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #5, back in either 1971 or
1972. I immediately fell in love with the character back then.
Mike Ploog did the original artwork on the character and it was nicely done.
I did, however, lose contact with the character in later years and have to
admit that I never read the later versions. I know he enjoyed great
popularity in the later years though.
The movie opens with the
revelation that the Ghost Riders are part of Satan's battalion of soldiers,
who hunt for souls for his army of undead. One of the final Riders
realizes that the list of souls he carries with him will give Satan control
over a whole town and refuses to give up the list. He turns his back on
Satan and rides away, leaving his tormentor standing in the desert.
Cut to the present day.
Johnny Blaze and his
father are motorcycle stunt riders in the carnival. This part remains
true to the comic book series. His father is dying of Cancer and Johnny
doesn't know it, until he discovers a letter to his father with the test
results.
Johnny is cleaning up his
motorcycle when Satan appears to him and tells him that he can cure his father
and all he has to do is sign a contract, giving the devil his soul.
While reading the contract Johnny cuts himself and a drop of blood spatters on
the dotted line. Satan accepts the 'signature' and the deal is done.
The next day Johnny's dad
is killed in a stunt.
Skip to later times.
Johnny is now a big name
motorcycle daredevil and his plans are even grander then before. His
greatest stunt in the movie is jumping the length of a football field, from
end zone to end zone, over a row of cars. His manager gets him to
re-think the cars and Johnny later changes the stunt to include helicopters,
with the rotors spinning!
Before the stunt he runs
into his old flame, who is now a TV news reporter and Johnny begins to
re-think his life.
Satan's son makes his
appearance on the set at around this time, too. His goal is to take over
his father's reign and to assist him he's got 3 baddies, each representing one
of the elements, air, water and earth.
When Ghost Rider finally
makes his appearance the transformation is quite nice to watch. The
special effects of the movie are real killers and it's nice to see that movie
special effects have finally advanced enough for movies such as this to
actually be made.
The first scenes of Ghost
Rider racing through downtown are truly amazing and in the end GR ends up in a
cemetery, just as dawn breaks and he's befriended by a caretaker of the
cemetery, who appears to know a lot about Johnny and what's happened to him.
The four baddies are
looking for a list of the souls that the earlier GR kept from Satan, and once
he finds it his plans are to eventually take over the earth for his own to
rule, and to also displace his father.
The caretaker tries to
steer Johnny away from meeting with the four, but he doesn't listen and soon
his identity is discovered by the local police, when they find the license
plate from his motorcycle, lost in his ride through downtown.
The chase that ensues is a
true splendor to watch and the action is non-stop.
I first had doubts about
Nicholas Cage playing Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, but after seeing his
performance I have to admit that I was wrong. He carries the character
to perfection and I eagerly look forward to a sequel on this one.
I give this movie an 8 out
of a possible 10 rating. It's well worth the time and ticket price to
see it though, so go to see it and decide for yourself what you think.
Personally, I don't think you'll be disappointed at all.
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