GHOST Toasties??

FEATURING 2006 WORST ACTOR NOMINEE NICOLAS CAGE (WICKER MAN) as a MOTORCYCLE STUNT RIDER WHO SELLS HIS SOUL to SAVE HIS LOVE, GHOST RIDER LOOKS PERFECT for the UNDEMANDING 14-YEAR-OLD AUDIENCE. BUT THOSE of US WITHOUT PIMPLES MAY FIND IT JUST a TAD... HOKEY and LAUGHABLE. BUT HOKEY and LAUGHABLE ENOUGH to BRING CAGE a SECOND RAZZIE NOMINATION?!?

MENDES: "Is that a gun in your hand...or are you makin' S'mores the hard way?!?!"

The reviews on IMDB ( Keep in mind it's IMDB), seem favorable, as is the one review on rotten tomatoes (Knock on wood.......my knocking on wood arm is starting to have a mind of it's own, like Dr. Strangelove's robotic arm). I think that this will be a good comic book film. I think that Cage, being a huge comic book fan, won't sleepwalk or mug with this one.  I believe  the entire cast will be good. I'm actually looking more forward to this than Spider-man 3.

I have not read the comic books but the movie looks really silly to me. I doesn't look entertaing like most of the recent comic book films. But I don't think it will be enough to earn Cage another razzie nomination. On the other hand, in the trailer, Eva Mendes reminded me of Jennifer Lopez... 

Nicolas Cage really hits one out of the park!"

Mirko Parlevliet, COMINGSOON.NET

What do you get when you hire a director who really understands and loves the material? A faithful adaptation of a comic. In recent years it happened with Bryan Singer and X-Men, Sam Raimi and Spider-Man, as well as Christopher Nolan and Batman. It is now safe to put writer/director Mark Steven Johnson in that class as well for Ghost Rider.

Superhero Hype! got a chance to watch the anticipated Ghost Rider movie, opening February 16 and starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Donal Logue and Peter Fonda.

In the Columbia Pictures release, superstar motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze (Cage) makes a deal with the devil (Mephistopheles, played by Fonda) to keep his father from dying. But Mephistopheles tricks Blaze, who leaves childhood sweetheart, Roxanne (Mendes), in order to protect her. Years later, the son of the devil, Blackheart, wants to take control over the world with the help of three fallen angels, called the Hidden. It is then that Mephistopheles comes to Blaze, who must now hunt down the rogue demons as the Ghost Rider.

There's quite a bit of comics history for Johnson to cover in the film (just look at Wikipedia's rundown of the Ghost Rider comics to get some kind of idea), which makes the beginning of the film seem forced. The backstory is about your typical father/son who jump motorcycles for a living (!), but it's this relationship that forces Johnny to sign his soul to the devil and we never really see that overwhelming love between father and son. There's not a lot of time to tell the origins either, so you're moved quickly to the point where Nicolas Cage and Blackheart & Co. take over the story.

It's probably a good thing, because that is also where the movie starts getting good. We need a bit more setup until Johnny Blaze (Cage) is called upon by Memistopheles. But when he does, we get the treat we've been expecting. Soon after, you get to see Blaze transform into Ghost Rider for the first time, which looks extremely painful for Blaze but enjoyable to the Ghost Rider.

When Ghost Rider does battle with Blackheart and the Hidden (or the elements, so to speak) it's an all-out slugfest with no holds barred. Their powers give the Ghost Rider a challenge in having to figure out how to defeat them. The scenes feature impressive special effects that'll have you say many times, "cool!" We won't spoil them here, but many of the best visual effects, including the full transformation, you haven't seen yet in trailers or clips. For example, the riding up the building scene from the trailers is quite long and is definitely a highlight of the film, with much more happening before and after.

Nicolas Cage really hits one out of the park here. We noticed a similar southern accent to how he talked in Con-Air (hey, the movie takes place in Texas after all), but Cage has created both a tragic yet fun character on-screen. It's entertaining to watch him play Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. Fonda and Elliott are great as always, while Bentley was good casting for Blackheart and Logue adds comic relief to the dark story. Eva Mendes is definitely nice to look at, but she doesn't add much as Roxanne. We didn't really feel to close to her as we probably should have.

Those who were afraid that the film's initial release was moved from summer 2006 to February 2007 should be assured that the FX team has pulled out all the stops. CGI flames can be tricky and Ghost Rider's flaming skull, body and hellcycle are awesome and well worth the delay. The special effects for Blackheart and the Hidden were also very well done.

Naturally, since this is the story of Ghost Rider, parents should heed the rating for this film, which is PG-13 for horror violence and disturbing images.

Ghost Rider is a fun ride and definitely worth checking out!

Cage was very good in World Trade Center. The only films where I think he wasn't good in, were Captain Corelli's Mandolin and The Wicker Man, but as I've said, his making fun of the Wicker Man kept from tossing a brick through the screen. Ellen Burstyn was much worse. He rebounded well from Mandolin with Adaptation, and I think he'll rebound with this film.

Check out this site.  They notice how more and more films are being hidden from critics, and how this is one of the first times a high profile film, this with a $120 million dollar budget, has been kept hidden (with the above exception).

Rotten Tomatoes.com has 1 fresh 4 Rotten being 20%. It was beaten out by "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls," with 8 fresh 19 rotten 30%. Maybe "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" should have been The Wrost Movie Of The Weak, more so than Ghost Rider

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghost_rider/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/daddys_little_girls/

At the time I'm writing this, the tomatometer is at 27%, with a cream of the crap at 33%.

That a movie like this gets any positive review at all has me wondering how these idiots find someone to pay them to state their opinions about movies.

The fanzine website critics that make up most of the reviews for Ghost Rider always give comic book franchises the benefit of the doubt, so I never trust them.  You really have to read between the lines to find out if they really liked the movie, or are just making excuses for it and micro-managing all the politics of it (e.g. using phrases like "watchable" or "serviceable", as though those terms justify the expensive two-hour experience of surviving the multiplex.)

Ghost Rider was doomed from conception.  It may or may not make money (a reported 120 million dollar budget makes it unlikely) but in the end the only opinion that matters is mine.  I won't pay to see it at the multiplex, on DVD, on PPV or cable.  It doesn't seem like anyone involved with it took the character seriously, and I can see special effects that are just as good or better in movies that I like.

Yes, I am judging a movie before I see it, but that is how I decide which movies I will see.  We all do it: that is why you may not want to watch XXX or Adam Sandler movies.  You don't think you're judging them, but you are.