Nicolas Cage is back for the second installment of the comic book, Ghost Rider come to life.
In an era where we have far too many hero movies being made, they all seem to run together. Huge special effect fests that can tire the mind, and fatigue the eyes. Ghost Rider 2 does offer some effects of course, but dares to offer something more. An actual story.
In case you are unfamiliar with the saga, in short here goes. Johnny Blaze (Cage) is a motorcycle stunt rider. When his father is dying, Johnny makes a deal with the Devil here on earth. His soul for his fathers life. Of course the Devil reneges, and Johnny's father dies anyway. Johnny is now cursed with this demon that unleashes within Johnny's body whenever he is drawn to someone whose soul needs to be taken. He becomes the supernatural Ghost Rider. And he steals their souls. But the actual demon is based in justice, truth and protection. So there is good that lies beneath. He is a good guy/bad guy hero of sorts. Johnny feels this somehow, and believes that this curse could maybe be used for good. The Devil does not know this.
But in this installment, Johnny is looking to shed himself of the curse and return to a normal life. And he is offered yet another deal by the forces of good here on earth. He must deliver a young boy to them, because the boy is the actual son of the Devil. And there are plenty of villains bent on not allowing that to happen. Including the Devil himself in human form on earth. Can the Ghost Rider make it all right, and keep the spiritual balance on earth steady?
Kudos to this franchise on one big thing. A real nice attempt at a meaningful story. There is actual dialogue that is well though out, well written, and researched. This movie picks it's places for it's effects to be effective, and they are. Not the over the top, hard to follow, tough on the eyes style from other movies. This movie has a heartbeat and a soul. And it's kept to about 85 minutes. Tidy and the most part interesting and fun.
Cage is who he is. Here's a guy who actually hasn't gotten any better as an actor as time has rolled on. In fact, he's not near as good as he once was. Here as the Ghost Rider, there is a ton of overacting, and him looking borderline silly as he transforms from Blaze to The Rider. But let's forgive him on that. Let's say this is better than a ton of other movies of this type and move on. For my money, Ghost Rider 2 proves that less is more. That hero movies don't need to be bigger to be fun.
Ghost Rider 2. I was surprised. Some way, somehow this worked.
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2 comments:
I haven't seen the movie yet but after reading the rerview above and on many other sites i fell that it will be a good 3d adventure I'm gonna watch it tonight , hope that i dont come out of the hall criticizing myself for watching it .
You're absolutely right. The first one wasn't fine cinema and neither is this. Cage is more hellish looking in this and the ending really makes up for the dreary eighty minutes you had to sit through. Not a classic, not as good as the original.
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