logan j. fowler and bill bodkin debate the flaming skull’s newest incarnation …
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent (but possibly Theater).
Call me crazy (I give you permission), but I actually kind of liked the original Ghost Rider, in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Nic Cage (Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider) seemed like he was having a good time, and the movie has its moments. However, it looks like the sequel might actual improve upon movie 1 immensely, as the crazy visuals and somewhat darker vibe (almost borderline gritty) seen in the trailer completely blew me away at first glance. While GR might not be the most popular of Marvel Comics’ characters, you wouldn’t imagine that the cast and crew behind the follow up let that get in their way. I have some semi high hopes about the Ghost Rider sequel; let’s just hope they don’t go down in a burning ring of fire.
— LJF
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent.
If The Grey is another installment of Liam Neeson’s annual January action series, then the Ghost Rider sequel is another entry in Nicolas Cage’s crappy yet campy winter film canon. The first Ghost Rider was decent, but it was bogged down by a rather poor performance by Wes Bentley as one of the main villain and a rather uninspired romantic arc between Cage and Eva Mendes. In the trailer for the sequel, we’re treated to a lot of big action sequences. and after viewing the behind-the-scenes documentary on the film that aired as a part of “Screen Vision” (those mini-docs before the movie trailers), you can tell the main focus of this film is going to be action. Also adding Idris Elba, Ciaran Hinds and Highlander himself, Christopher Lambert, to your supporting cast is a major upgrade over the last film. However, this film includes one of my least favorite film characters — the precocious child in peril. You know this character — the too smart for his/her own age child who may be the key to doomsday. And, of course, they have father figure that forces our normally hard-as-nails hero to unnecessarily assume a paternal role. This character and the situations that surround them always cause films to ramp up the the misty-eyed, schmaltzy dialogue and force our hero to make utterly predictable and sometimes absurdly out of character decisions throughout the film. Call me cynical, call me foolish for my prejudices against this type of character, but because of this I will be taking a pass on Ghost Rider at the movies. However, the action sequences have me interested enough to make it a rental.
— BB
This movie, like many Nic Cage movies, looks like a giant turd. The only reason I’ll be seeing this is because I will force Bill to watch Breaking Dawn (to laugh at it, of course).
Cage needs to release about 70 fewer movies a year, and maybe work a little harder on the ones left. He’s becoming the Adam Sandler of action movies.