Ghost Rider

This definitely was an interesting movie to revist, because I remember it being very cheesy and hammy. I have to say that on a rewatch...yeah, it was still cheesy and hammy but I had fun the whole time all the same.

The story is about Johnny Blaze, played by Nicolas Cage, who makes a deal with the devil, played by Peter Fonda, that ends up leading to Blaze becoming the devil's personal bounty hunter, known as the Ghost Rider. When the fallen angel, Blackheart, played by Wes Bentley, comes to the mortal world to search for a powerful contract, the Ghost Rider is the one who must stop him and his posse of demons.

The acting was honestly pretty out there, with Cage turning in an absolutely bonkers performance as Johnny Blaze, especially whenever he transforms into the Ghost Rider, where he looks like he's having the time of his life. In fact, I'd argue that even Wes Bentley was hamming it up the whole time, which was especially entertaining to watch at the climax of the film. I know there was supposed to be some kind of romantic connection between Cage and Roxanne Simpson, played by Eva Mendes, but I honestly felt her performance wasn't super strong, mostly because the writers didn't give her much to do outside of being a damsel in distress. The one actor who seemed to be playing a genuinely good dramatic role was, oddly, Sam Elliot, who played a cemetery groundskeeper who acts as a mentor figure to Johnny, and he felt very genuine and interesting to watch.

Overall, this movie was definitely not as serious as I would have liked it to be, especially since it is based on a darker source material, but the hammy direction still worked due to them having Cage in the lead, and so I still had fun regardless.

Next time, we check in on Peter Parker and what comes next in his journey after defeating Doctor Octopus. Will his next adventure still keep audiences invested? Find out when I review Spider-Man 3.

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