 
Ghost Rider
MPAA Rating:
for horror violence and disturbing imagesReviewed by: John DeYoung Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
 ½Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens
Genre:
Thriller, Comic book adaptation, Action
Length:
2 hr.
Year of Release:
2007
USA Release:
February 16, 2007 (wide)
“Long ago he made a deal to save someone he loved.” From the pages of Marvel Comics comes the chain wielding, motorcycle-riding superhero, spirit of vengeance, “The Ghost Rider.” “Leaving Las Vegas” and “National Treasure” star Nicholas Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman by day, but at night, in the presence of evil, he becomes the flaming skull rider of right. In order to save the life of his father, Johnny sells his soul to Mephistopheles (The Devil) played by “Easy Rider” star Peter Fonda. Along with Cage and Fonda, “2 Fast 2 Furious” actress, Eva Mendez plays Roxanne Simpson, a television reporter, who is trying to get a lead on this mysterious rider of the night and Johnny’s old flame. (Get it, flame? Flaming skull?) With every good superhero, you must have a villain. Enter Blackheart, Mephistopheles’ power hungry nemesis and son—portrayed by Weirdsville’s Wes Bentley. He wants to create a new Hell and dethrone daddy as the king of the netherworld. Mephistopheles agrees to release Johnny’s soul, if he consents to be the supernatural agent of justice and defeat his sinister son and his entourage and stop his evil plan. Will he be successful? He is the Ghost Rider, after all. As a comic book fan, I never could understand how someone that comes from the depths of Hell or practices black magic can be a symbol for truth, justice and the American way. Ghost Rider, Son of Satan and Dr. Strange come to mind. To me, Ghost Rider is a secondary Marvel Comics character that is little known to non-comic action and adventure fans, for example Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Punisher and X-Men. Before the movies came out, everyone had a pretty good idea who these characters were. Before a “Ghost Rider,” “Daredevil” or even a “Blade” movie was released, Marvel Films should have considered putting together a Captain America, Thor or even an Iron Man flick (which is now in production starring Robert Downey, Jr.)—first before going to these second stringers. Even a live action Avengers movie would have been great! It’s like DC coming out with a Phantom Stranger or a Question movie (all together now, who?) before making a Batman or Superman flick. OK. I’m done making my comic book movie etiquette speech. Being familiar with the character and the series, I can say that Ghost Rider’s fans will be very disappointed. There were a few times I thought Nicholas Cage was going to go into his Elvis impersonation. The way I understood the film, Johnny Blaze came from Texas, yet Cage would lose his Southern drawl, from time to time. When he tried to bring it back into his character, I thought he was going to burst into “Hound Dog.” I know that Cage always wanted to do a comic book based movie, but he should have stayed away from this one. Cage’s co-star, Eva Mendes was very attractive, but her acting abilities left a little to be desired. At times, I felt she was struggling to be convincing in her role as Blaze’s love interest, and it sure came through on screen. To me, Peter Fonda as the devilish Mephistopheles was really bad casting. If I were get somebody to play a role like this, I would not get somebody who looked like somebody’s grandfather. Fonda’s devil appeared too soft and gentle for somebody that is capable of doing unspeakable evil. One thing that really bothered me about “Ghost Rider” was the comic relief. In other words, there was too much. Here is a story about a guy who sold his soul to the Devil and became his fiery skeletal “bounty hunter” for the rest of his natural born life. I’m sorry. I missed the humor in all that. Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote “Daredevil,” really missed the essence of what a Ghost Rider story should be. Snappy one-liners and corny play on words isn’t something I would have incorporated into a movie like this. “My skull feels like it’s on fire, but I’ll be alright?!” I just kept thinking, “Please stop!” The one thing I did like about the film was its look. The special effects were awesome, and, at least, the features of the Ghost Rider character were right on track. It was if the Ghost Rider, himself, stepped out of the pages of the comic and landed smack on the screen. Bravo, too, to the creative team. One person who truly impressed me in this film was “Hulk” star Sam Elliott, who played the caretaker of a cemetery that finds Johnny after his first transformation. His portrayal and his brooding nature really fit. As a Christian, I would stay away from this movie at all cost. To me, this movie gives honor to anything that represents evil. I was totally taken back by the demographics of the audience, which consisted of many impressionable youth. The problem I see is that because Ghost Rider is considered a comic book hero, many of these kids will think that maybe Satan’s not that bad, if he developed Ghost Rider to fight another evil entity. However, Jesus says differently in Mark 3:22-23 and 26. I’ll take His word for it. In order for us to get the message of salvation out, I truly believe that the Christian community must consider using non-traditional ways of spreading the gospel, much like the way the dark side is using such tactics as movies, television, music, video games and comic books to desensitize our society. The definition of good and evil is not a black and white issue anymore—more like a shade of gray. In this day and age, righteous and unrighteous is not as clear cut anymore. In this case, I have not seen a serious Christian comic book since Eternal Studios came out with Archangels, The Saga. As a major comic book fan and a Christian, nothing would please me more than to see something like Archangel turn into the next Spider-Man, Hulk, or X-Men. Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.  Positive
Positive - I saw the movie today and enjoyed it, but if I had children under the age of 13-15 I would not approve of them seeing the movie. I liked that the movie makes a clear distinction between evil people and good people, but not so much between evil and good as a concept or idea. This is because you could consider the main character, Johnny Blaze, an anti-hero because of the type of power he has and where the power is from, versus, how he uses it and why, and who for? This could present some gray areas in the arena of morality. An anti-hero causes his audience to ask questions like “can you use things that are considered bad, to do good?” Or, “Can you do seemingly good things that help people, but for bad reasons?” Most Christians I know are able to call right, right and wrong, wrong, but in our culture today even many Christians see wrong as right, in certain circumstances. Relativism is only nearly shoved down our throats throughout our education. Yet I think the movie is worth seeing, if you’re interested in seeing an action-like, fantasy film. There is some Catholic mythology present that could also confuse some people, and I should also mention that the co-star wears very tight and low-cut outfits. Images of modesty and purity are always prized and ideal, but I’m not one to throw the baby out with the bath. It is otherwise a good movie for adults. Positive - A lot of Christians are afraid of this film, citing that it’s the devil that gives Johnny his Power to become Ghost Rider. If any of you have read the comics you know that Mephisto is not the real devil its been explained that the Character is an interdeminsional being that is pretending to be the devil in order to inspire fear into the heroes such as the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer etc. I’m not entirely sure however if the creators intentionally meant for Mephistopheles to be the real devil or the accurate portrayal of Mephistopheles pretending to be the devil but I’m sticking to the comics on this one and am going to let everyone know that this character is pretending and hopefully that will be established in the sequel and its straightened out these argent the real demons we think of. Positive - I thought this movie was very entertaining. It was clean, mild language, no sex. Very scary images so not for people sensitive to evil and scary images and not for young children at all. There were some good things in this movie. For one, he was only after evil and he is never 'volunteering' to do the devils work. It just happened. He was sort of tricked and then forced into it. He helped the innocent and at the end he actually stood up to satan and chose to go against him. But yes there is quite a bit of scary demonic images and scenes so I DO want to leave a BIG warning on that. There is also some pretty funny comedy in it which was a nice. Positive - First off, you know what you’re going to get coming into this move. You’ve seen the trailers, you know that the entire plot revolves around the ghost rider. So if that bothers you, then don’t see it. As far as anything offensive, other than disturbing images maybe, there really isn’t much to complain about. It’s a fun movie and was worth seeing in theatres. Positive - I enjoyed “Ghost Rider.” I didn’t feel that it glorified evil at all. I liked that Ghost Rider would only use his power against evil. I also liked that when given the chance he refused to pass his curse onto someone else and instead vowed to use his powers against Mephistoles. I would caution christians with young children or who are easily offended to pass on Ghost Rider, but for anyone else I think they would find the movie enjoyable. Positive - Of course, the character Ghost Rider could be seen as the servant of satan, but the movie tries to portray him as a knight of justice. Though he made a pact with the devil (Mephistopheles), in the film the caretaker says to Johnny Blaze,'You didn’t make the deal for greed, you did it for love. Maybe that puts God on your side.' So, personally, I think the film has positive messages. Anyway, well, there are plenty of special effects and treat it as a good fantasy film. Positive - “Ghost Rider” was a fun film. It’s not the greatest roll of celluloid ever produced, but it has its virtues. There is a redemption of the character at the end of the film that is nearly Christlike it its implications. In essence, he takes on a curse and promises Peter Fonda’s character that he will use it to thwart him whenever the opportunity affords it. He is sacrificing himself so the curse cannot be passed to someone who would use it for evil. The mention of God in a positive light in the film at least sets it both on the right side of morality and apart from 90% of what Hollywood spills out to the masses. Was there any mention of Christ or Christ as a redeemer? No. But it is not a Christian movie. It does, however, allow the casual viewer to leave the theater believing that with God, anything is possible. Neutral
Neutral - Having just got back from Ghost Rider I have mixed feelings. As a fan of comic book based movies I enjoyed this movie to some degree. While it had plenty of action and some chuckle worthy lines there is still some stuff about this film that bothered me. Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the devil *spoiler ahead* to save his dying father. This bothered me because even though it is something he did out of love it was still wrong. The demonic imagery bothered me as well since the main 'bad guys' were the devil’s son and 3 demons. While parts of the film did accentuate forgiveness this film does not even hint at the true way to forgiveness: Jesus Christ. As a comic book film it succeeds a lot better than Daredevil and Fantastic Four (although I have a soft spot for F4) I would recommend this movie to comic book fans, but for discerning Christians I would recommend using caution before seeing this movie. Neutral - I was excited about seeing this film, not because I am a fan of the comic book, but because I am a Nicolas Cage fan. However, my expectations for the film were definitely not met. The movie was good overall, but I left the theater strangely disappointed. The effects were great, but the script could have used a more work. In my opinion, there was too much comedy and not enough real character development. It lacked a believable climax and the acting left much to be desired, even for Cage fans. Neutral - I wish that just once Hollywood could incorporate Christianity into its supernatural films. But it seems I’m naive to think that things will ever change. Ghost Rider had its adrenaline pumping moments, things that caught and held my attention. The characterizations are wonderful, the dialogue funny without bordering on corny. Neutral - My husband and I and two friends went to see this movie last night, and truthfully I wish I hadn’t bothered. It had a lot more 'evilness' to it than we expected and there were some frightening and morbid moments. Not a movie for children or young teens. I don’t believe there was any swearing, though there was a lot of cleavage! The only thing I could take from the movie was that it presented how evil and deceptive satan is and how he will do anything to destroy peoples lives. Use discretion if you’re going to watch it. Neutral - I in no way recommend letting younger children watch this movie. But with that said your teenagers who go to school with other secular influences will probably have a strong desire to see this movie. What I would suggest is watch it with them. Wait! Before you dismiss this look at it this way: It can open up a great opportunity for conversation. In today’s world, Satan is portrayed as 'sexy' or 'fun' but by watching this movie you can talk about (SPOILER*) how satan tricked Johnny into signing away his soul because of his love of his father. Johnny’s motives were sincere but they were sincerely wrong. This is how satan works in our real world today. He doesn’t appear with horns and flames he shows himself as something that is desirable to us. He shows himself as something that gives us instant gratification rather than waiting for God’s timing. Who’s to say that if Johnny had sought after God his father wouldn’t have been healed? It wouldn’t have worked for Hollywood but hey it might be some ideas you could talk to your teens about. How would the movie have been different if Johnny knew God? I hope this helps you in some way. Thanks for your time. God bless Neutral - It seems the filmmakers were attempting to attract movie-goers with eye candy… and that’s about it. Although the FX were very good (well, ghost rider and bike), the movie was completely hollow. It seemed as though I was ready to sit down to a nice steak, bit into it, and it just kinda poofed in my mouth like a cheez puff. The story line was a twin from the original “Blade” film. No substance, no character development, worthless plot, and the storyline had little flow. In short, the film was not worth the portrayal of demonology (which was misconstrued from the original comic story). Negative
Negative - When I went to see 'Ghost Rider' I expected to see a great movie. After all, it is a MARVEL film AND it stars Nicholas Cage. However, I was veeerrryyy disappointed; everything about this movie was bad. It had no good moral quality, the graphics were awful, and they must have picked up their script from 'the book of cheezy lines'. Not to mention the thin, jumpy plot and predictable bad guys (they also threw in flash-scenes of grotesque 'demon faces' whenever the devils were around). I wouldn’t recommend this movie for anyone of any age simply because it would be a waste of your time and money. Keep your wallet from crying and save your money for Spiderman-3. Negative - This movie was awful. Everything from the acting and directing and the script was horrible. The action was not well done at all, it just left me wanting a lot more. As for negative content, don’t go expecting any christian themes; in fact, it would be a good idea to not see the movie at all. Negative - I just came back from the film and found it interesting. Having read a number of Ghost Rider comics in younger days, I was curious to see if the movie followed the comic books to any degree. Having seen the movie, I would issue a strong caution on letting any young people (teenager and below) from seeing this show. To me, though I did enjoy the film, it would bring about a sense of confusion in many minds. The Bible does state, repeatedly, that Satan is the root of all evil, but in the movie, Satan cons a man into selling his soul for basically a good cause. My concern is that a moral confusion would ensure whereas many today do not have any sort of solid Biblical teaching on Satan, evil, good or any other Biblical concept. There are many younger adults and kids who can not think abstractly much less Biblical, and would look at this film as encouraging demonic activity and interest. Negative - I admit I had low expectations for this film and perhaps my pre-conceived perception effects my opinion… but I doubt it. This movie was laugh out loud ridiculous. It employed every cliche in the book. The plot was full of holes and items that were never and couldn’t be explained. For some reason every fight scene begins with a brew of demonic creatures, but all but one vanish leaving a one on one fight with Ghost Rider, who has no problems (really) killing them off. It takes Ghost Rider about a minute to figure out what power he can use, the bad guy taunts saying they are invincible, and then Ghost Rider kills them. Comments from young people
Negative - I went to see this movie with a young friend of mine, he didn’t seem as uncomfortable with it as I was. The quality of the film was excellent, but I can’t over-look the dark side of it. In the story, evil is depicted as a good thing. They make Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) out to be some kind of superhero, when he’s really like Satan’s bounty hunter. The entire movie seemed to have a demonic presence. I was very disappointed. I can’t recommend this movie to anyone, keeping our minds pure is far better than watching great CGI. Positive - I saw “Ghost Rider” on opening showing, and to my surprise I saw a 2 year-old in the row behind me. I though 'I wouldn’t let a 2 year-old see this film, but I guess its up to his parent.' After viewing the movie, I can’t help thinking the poor little kid is more than a little freaked out. Positive - This movie does NOT give honor to things which are evil. As an impressionable young person, I certainly did not walk out of this movie thinking the Devil was not so bad. If anything, this movie reinforces the fact that deceptiveness and lies are all the devil is capable of. The theology of this movie is not christian. There are mentions of demons hiding within elements, and many other spiritual ideas which do not match Christian doctrine. It does not, however, attempt to disprove anything Christian, and could be an interesting jumping off point for discussions of the different misconceptions people have about theology. This is a scary movie, and I would not recommend it for young children. There are frightening demons and several pop into the screen unannounced in order to make you jump. It is, however, a very fun movie, and made me want to punch my fist in the air and say 'Yeah! Go Ghostrider!' I don’t think this movie was intended to have a message. It is just attempting to bring a comic book to the screen, and it does so with great special effects, cool action sequences, a few laughs, and lots of really cheesy lines. If you are looking for a simply entertaining night at the movies, this is a good movie. Otherwise, rent “One Night with the King.” Positive - Boy what a great film! I believe that it stretches reality… I thought this movie was brilliant I saw it on opening day with My friends and we all agreed that this movie was the best marvel movie by far. Better than both spiderman, the dialogue in this movie was comedic, even Black Heart had a couple Hilarious but dark lines. It was a really great story, I have read the comics and I have to say Nick Cage was a great choice of Johnny Blaze. Don’t think of this movie as demonic because critics probably don’t know the meaning. Negative - I thought this movie was very bad. I went to see it with my friend, and we both walked out of there trying to think of anything morally good. It promotes fighting evil with evil, and revenge. To me, it makes it seem like evil is better than good, and working for the devil is the best thing to life. I would definitely NOT recommend this movie to any Christian, or person, for that matter. |
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