Superhero Media: Ghost Rider

I like it. No, really. I actually kind of like Ghost Rider, Nic Cage and all. First, can we get over this Nic Cage thing? Dude is actually a good actor, just check out Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona or Snake Eyes, and he doesn't do a terrible job in Ghost Rider either, despite what the internet says. There are problems with the film, to be certain, but I don't think the casting, aside from Blackheart and his cronies, is really a major issue. Cage is playing Johnny Blaze, in this version of the story, a carny who has no real formal education and lucked into a lucrative career; of course he eats candy out of crystal and has ludicrous taste in clothing, he grew up in a circus with no money. Also, the whole, "he's uneducated" part of the Blaze character plays nicely into when he literally makes a deal with the devil. I will admit some annoyance that Blackheart gets to keep his name, but Mephisto doesn't, but Peter Fonda playing the embodiment of evil is a good get, and he has fun with the role. Eva Mendes shines when the script allows her to, the scene where she's stood-up by Blaze is a classic, with her drinking an entire bottle of wine then demanding a waiter tell her she's pretty. 

Rebel Wilson has a cameo, as a goth girl menaced my a mugger and saved by Ghost Rider, which is a bit of fun, as this was quite a while before Pitch Perfect. Much of the film was shot in Melbourne, Australia, which a friend of mine used to make fun of quite a bit, but excepting Southbank and the Citilink, the places they use are pretty generic, like Melbourne Cemetery, so it bothers me less than some of the locations in I, Frankenstein. The little thing in Ghost Rider that grates on me is the CGI motorcycle. A lot of people point out that the CGI in general is pretty poor, but that doesn't bother me as much as a real stuntman with a CGI head on a CGI bike. I don't watch much reality television, but I was under the impression that Motorcycle custom shops are reasonably common, surely production could have thrown some money at someone for a skulls and chains rebuild of a Harley or something? And while we're on the design department being lazy, why do the demons all look like background extras from Underworld? Yes, demons don't really have a contiguous look in Marvel Comics, but something a bit more grounded or horror inspired would have been better, the leather coats and piercings just stand out from the surrounds in all the wrong ways. 

On the internet, especially YouTube, Ghost Rider is a bit of a punching bag for popular critics, which I feel is undeserved. Yes, it's not a great film, but I wouldn't put it in the same category as Catwoman or Super Buddies; Ghost Rider is more of a camp romp with a few bad decisions dragging it down than an absolute train-wreck. Ghost Rider is a difficult character to get to grips with, not having every really had a great run in comics and being tied into some real comics obscura. I think this film does a reasonable job without trying to be as over the top as Spawn or Faust - Love of the Damned, and is probably worth another look if you've only seen it the once. I'm hoping to see a version of the Blaze (or maybe Kale) Ghost Rider in the MCU at some point, given that I don't really count Agents of SHIELD as part of the continuity anymore. Doctor Strange has introduced alternate planes and demonic forces, so Ghost Rider turning up as a foil is a possibility as well as a good way to backdoor the character in and test the market. Hell, after that one scene in Avengers Endgame, it looks like a Fearless Defenders film may be on the cards, who knows what the future holds?