Overpriced Popcorn

Introduction First things first: I apologize for the lateness of this review. I saw this flick opening night, but life has been crazy the past week. That being said… Every once in awhile a film comes along that ignites a true craze, becomes a true phenomenon, and takes the idea of “phenomenon” to the next level. In my life there have been several. The first one I remember, of course, was Star Wars. The science fantasy epics by George Lucas and Co. ignited mainstream fandom in a way I don’t think anything else ever had. The original trilogy was the first true motion picture phenomenon that I can think of, though I’m sure arguments could be made for some other, earlier films. The next one that I remember was Tim Burton’s Batman. The Indiana Jones films were wildly popular, but Batman swept the nation with such a craze that it was dubbed “Bat-mania.” This was the first big-budget and dark superhero film, and the first one beyond Superman that took comic books as a serious prop...

Introduction In 2007, Marvel comics continued its assault on the world box office with the release of Ghost Rider, a film based on one of their darker properties. In it, a cocky, Evel-Knievel-like stunt rider named Johnny Blaze (portrayed by Nicholas Cage) makes a deal with the devil to save his critically ill father, and in so doing becomes possessed by a demon that, whenever he is in the presence of evil, transforms him into the Ghost Rider, a spirit of vengeance with a flaming skull for a head. The Rider is hungry for the souls of sinners, and has no sense of scale—if you’ve done something shameful, he’ll swallow your soul and send you screaming to Hell.  Of course, Blaze hates being the Devil’s man-bitch and constantly fights against the demon inside (like any good Marvel character), but even in serving Hell, he is doing good work by sending evildoers Down Below.  I described Ghost Rider to my wife Julie as “the Crow meets Spawn,” and if you’re completely unfamiliar ...