All Cage

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2007)

I watched this with some hopes of it being a great movie... my mistake. The movie starts out with some history of how the rider becomes a ghost rider. That's all well and good, but there was too much history. In my opinion much of it could have been cut out. On top of that I felt absolutely no connection between the actors. I was hoping for Cage to show up asap. He didn't - not his fault.
Nicholas Cage saved the movie. It would have been a B rated flick at best without the monumental ability for Cage to fill the entire big screen and carry the entire script. NOTE: I didn't say "carry the entire cast" b/c Peter Fonda, Sam Elliott, Brett Cullen and Donal Logue all did fantastic jobs in their respective roles. They just weren't melded together well.
Wes Bentley, as Blackheart, seemed at home in this role. But I was glad that he wore a scarf to cover his chest - if the chest was open then the entire movie would have seemed cheap. Matt Long only has talent for soap operas. (Then again Jack Nicholson was the worst actor ever when he started out, so ...)
Eva Mendes totally belongs on a romantic comedy set. The little snippets where she gets to perform a bit of comedy made me "fall in love with her." She pwns romantic comedy. NOTE: Raquel Alessi is not related to her in any way - other than she looks like Eva's sister! I thought she loved Johnny more than her older character played by Eva.
The cgi of the skull on Cage's shoulders was well done when he spoke, but it looked awkward in place. However, the flames were awesome.
Overall I only give the movie a 7 out of 10.
-LD
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my faith: http://ww.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/
PS: I rented the DVD from NETFLIX and got to listen to the producer's (Gary Foster) commentary. At first I thought that I would listen (this was my first DVD) for a chapter or two ... 28 chapters later I was glad I listened to it. I tried the other commentary - don't try it - stay with Foster, an articulate young man with a heart.