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Ghost Rider

"Ghost Rider" starring Nicolas Cage, Wes Bentley, and Eva Mendes leaves me wondering: what kind of actress is Mendes anyway? She’s been featured in "Hitch," "Stuck on You," "Training Day," "2 Fast 2 Furious," and other films across many genres. Rather than consider her an amazingly versatile actress, however, she comes off as indecisive about her cinematic identity. Nicolas Cage, however, upholds his trend of the “loner”, “badass” type. Cage as the Ghost Rider is the perfect choice considering the dark, edgy man that Cage embodies. He did rely heavily on his distinctive looks and dark smoky voice rather than putting his full dramatic force into his character, but he played the legendary Ghost Rider adequately.

As far as action movies go this one isn’t spectacular. For one the fight scenes (between Ghost Rider and several demons in the form of the elements) end too quickly. The special effects for each villain were, of course, impressive, and they boasted of their powers, but when they actually fought him, they were hardly formidable opponents.

Wes Bentley as Satan’s son was the best of the villains (killing people with toxic doses of sulfur) even better than Satan himself. Other than his low voice, slow walk, and tendency to vanish inexplicably Satan wasn’t particularly menacing. I did, however, like the film’s Biblical references. They added an original touch to a run-of-the-mill comic book film, and I wouldn’t have minded even more Biblical background on the demons and their powers.

The movie came to a little over two hours, which meant that the ninety-minute formula was stretched thin and there were several pacing problems. But as a whole this movie was entertaining. Rent it and enjoy, but don’t buy.

Written by: Katherine E. Webb

Reviewers Rating: 7
Reader's Rating: 7.00
Reader's Votes: 3

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