Better upon further viewing

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2007)

The first time I watched this film, I thought it was OK. However, after many viewings I have come to embrace the film a lot more.
Everything from the villains, the plot and the sets are over the top, but what should we expect from a film based on a character that has a flaming skull of a head? I mean come on, this is not high art. It is an opportunity to stretch and have some fun. Cage does so in spades and gives us a modern Texas cowboy.
As with Dare Devil, Johnson knows the material but is not so much of a fan boy that he doesn't miss the opportunities to take an already absurd story and treat it too serious. Johnson has tackled two of the more dark comics in the Marvel catalog, but he has a touch I appreciate which is respect but not so much that it becomes blind reverence. I know, I know, comics are the modern day lore and myth. But they are not so steeped in lore and myth that their intent should be missed and that is to take reality and stretch it.
I absolutely love the settings that Johnson uses, at times this feels like a modern day spaghetti western. Were it me, I would have kept the story strictly in the desert. But that would bely the setting of the comics. As is, we get a really cool story told in two worlds.
Sam Elliot is the man plain and simple. His Caretaker is the grounding element of the movie, the anchor. Fonda's take on the devil is both inspired and genius. He gives the "red one" a much needed makeover and I love watching Fonda chew up the scenery when he is on. He is over the top and under the table, all in the same scene. I love that.
Eva Mendes comes off as pretty much window dressing, which is what the comics usually do with their female characters. I don't fault Johnson here, but would have liked a little more substance than boobs from Mendes.
All in all, gets better with every viewing.