Hands up who likes Nicolas Cage? OK, hands down – all two of you. As anyone who knows me in the flesh should know, I absolutely bloody love old Nic. Head over heels. We’re not talking I-want-to-have-your-babies here, but pretty close. Maybe I’ll babysit. Anyway, when we here at THN decided on August being our Guilty Pleasures season, one thought instantly came to mind: every Nicolas Cage film ever. Of course, then I remembered about THE WICKER MAN (‘Not the beeeeees!’), and realised the title ‘Every Nicolas Cage Film Ever Except THE WICKER MAN’ was a bit long.
So, here we are: one of my personal favourites of Mr. Cage’s. It’s not his zaniest performance by far (that’s reserved for the abysmal sequel, but the less said about that the better), but I’ve chosen it because, while often cited as one of the worst comic book adaptations around (it currently sits at a meagre 26% on Rotten Tomatoes), it ticked all the boxes for me – and not just the one labelled ‘Mr. Cage present and correct’.
GHOST RIDER follows the adventures of Johnny Blaze (OK, no points for character names) as he goes from lovable, daredevil motorcyclist to scarred, pawn-of-the-Devil motorcyclist. Chuck in some love story guff and family-related woes, plus something about the Devil’s progeny attempting to take over the world, and, well, you’ve at least got yourself a bit more substance than TRANSFORMERS.
But the thing about the GHOST RIDER films is that if you look at them closely enough (or just look at them at all, really), they look as if they’ve come straight from the imagination of a seven year old boy. Now, the original GHOST RIDER was released in 2007, at which point this writer was twice that age – but still young enough to enjoy what was going on and now, five years later, be able to get all nostalgic over it.
Just take a look at what we’ve got here – a man (not just any man, but Nicolas Cage, no less) with a flaming skull for a head, surrounded in chains (insert snarky S&M comment here) and Blaze-ing (see what I did there) a trail of fire wherever he goes – because he’s on a huge, badass chopper bike. And that’s really GHOST RIDER’s main draw: it’s all pretty badass. You can see how it’d appeal to the mind of a pubescent teenager. Well, except for the lame carnival love story, but considering the depth of the plot, it’s easily overlooked.
What makes GHOST RIDER stand out, though, is its departure from traditional comic book settings. Rarely in superhero land do we leave the hustle and bustle (or leafy suburbs) of New York; GHOST RIDER flips that on its head and relocates to the old west, complete with crazy caretaker who just happens to know all about what’s happening to Johnny. So sure, some things are a little too convenient – and there are more than a few unforgivable puns (‘Morning, Bonehead!’) – but GHOST RIDER still manages to set itself apart from the countless other comic book movies to be memorable.
Which, considering the forgettable nature of non-AVENGERS films such as DAREDEVIL, is quite the achievement. At least in my mind, but hey – it’s my guilty pleasure. Maybe no one else remembers this one either? Still, for Nic Cage fans it’s a must-watch. Tickets for two, then…
You can see the rest of our guilty pleasures here.
