Ghost Rider
6/10
So disappointing. Movie could have been much better than it was. It has its moments but its too cheesy. Should have been closer in tone to Blade 2 than Spider-man. They could have found a nice middle ground but it becomes painfully cartoonish sometimes. The story is based around a superhero origin so we see a lot of the usual tropes play out.
The CGI special effects look pretty good but a little too "clean" sometimes. Thats one problem with the movie. It all just looks too glossy. I like some of the design choices but I wish more of it had been darker and dingier. I like the Hellcycle though.
Cage plays Blaze as more of an eccentric and Cage being Cage he can play it pretty broadly. I think he has some good body language as The Rider (when it is him and not a stuntman) and gives him a unique physical presence and movements. Mark Steven Johnson puts in too many jokes that kill a lot of the cool factor for the character. Its like he was making a movie that MIGHT be a little creepy for 5 year olds.
Eva Mendes looks hot but I don't really buy her as a reporter. But f*** her body is nice. Blackheart comes off as a *****ey spoiled brat. I think the best work in this moves comes from Sam Elliot as The Caretaker and Peter Fonda as Mephisto. I actually wanted to see more of Elliots character.
Ghost Rider :Spirit of Vengeance
6/10
Its actually not as much of a reboot as I though. The filmmakers just tweak the origin scene for their movie but its very similar. The big problem is the story is WAAAAY too thin. The idea of the devil having a child or wanting to have one has been done plenty of times before. The movie needed some more interesting scenes and story ideas built around that.
But still...in some ways I like some things in this movie better than the first. The style and tone were more enjoyable to me. The movie has a balls to the wall shooting style and a much grittier look. The filming style like the camera angles seem appropriate for a stunt rider like Blaze. Sometimes the much smaller budget is way too apparent though. Some of the stunts do look pretty cool. As far as action I think these guys were better fits for the character than Mark Steven Johnson ever was.
I like the redesign of Ghost Rider. He looks more intimidating, more hellish, and they cut down on the stupid puns to boot. In fact I think they give him even fewer lines which is good. The bad part is they give the Rider this stupid swaying voodoo-ish body language and sped up movements like the Guardian in Highlander The Source. It looks ridiculous.
Cage goes FULL ON over the top in parts of this one. I see what he was trying to do. he's trying to show this demonic thing trying to explode out of him. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. He and the Crank guys seem made for each other I guess.
Idris Elba is good and Christopher Lambert has a small part that more could have been done with. Blackout has some cool powers but he looks like a wannabe 80's rock band member. I miss Peter Fonda. This new guy playing the "devil" aka Roarke isn't nearly as interesting. Not cool or creepy in the slightest
All in all the Crank directors needed to reign all it and they needed a script with more going on. The movie would have been better if they weren't so excessive with what they do. The style works for the character but it gets too bizarre sometimes.
