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Ghost Rider Movies Nicolas Cage

Home > Movies > Ghost Rider: Were The Nicolas Cage Movies Really That Bad?

Ghost Rider: Were The Nicolas Cage Movies Really That Bad?

Rick AustinbyRick Austin
May 30, 2020
in Movies
Tags: FeaturedMarvelMoviesNicolas Cage

Ghost Rider. We all watched it. But do we all hate it?

These days it seems like any project with the Marvel name on it is destined for success. Well, not counting The Inhumans. With Black Panther cruising over the billion-dollar box office mark and Infinity War coming close to two billion, they dominate the movie industry.

But fans know that there was a darker time. Even after failures like Howard the Duck and that awful Matt Salinger Captain America film were ancient history, times were still tough for them initially.

For every X-Men film’s success there was a Daredevil or Elektra film that bombed. For every Spider-Man there was a Punisher or Spider-Man 3, and for every average Fantastic Four film there was… well, an average Fantastic Four film.

Yet no films proved that making a good Marvel movie wasn’t easy more than the Ghost Rider films. Johnny Depp apparently wanted the role of Johnny Blaze, such were the high expectations of the first one, but instead we got Nicolas Cage and things didn’t go as fans had hoped.



But were they really that bad?

The first Ghost Rider film was your basic origin story. Johnny Blaze, a carnival stunt-biker, sells his soul to Mephisto in exchange for his dad’s cancer to be cured… except, naturally, Mephisto then kills Johnny’s dad in another way. Johnny, locked into the contract, spends years trying to avoid having to pay it back. However, when Mephisto’s twisted son Blackheart tries to overthrow him from ruling Hell, Mephisto calls on Johnny to be his soldier in this war – as the Ghost Rider.

That all sounds pretty good, except the battle mostly revolves around Blackheart trying to find the Contract of San Venganza in a scavenger hunt. Basically, it’s the power of a thousand corrupt souls. Why that would be enough to depose Mephisto, who’s presumably accumulated the souls of billions of evil people throughout history, is never explained. But that’s just a formality. Ghost Rider’s grand plan is to defeat Blackheart’s henchmen in a series of brief Boss Battles, while poor Johnny juggles an ex-girlfriend he still loves and a police investigation because the cops suspect him of… something.



It’s all pretty underwhelming.

Ghost Rider Nicolas Cage

The effects aren’t bad, and there’s a certain wicked joy in seeing Ghost Rider in action. However, the plot is boring and potentially great moments like seeing Johnny team up with The Caretaker – the original Ghost Rider – are wasted. The villains are as bland as the hero, and the cowboy theme of the production comes across as lacking imagination. It’s a nice idea, but it fails badly.



Spirit of Vengeance was the second attempt to make Ghost Rider cool to filmgoers and, after the lukewarm response to the original, Marvel realised that some of their characters like The Punisher and Ghost Rider didn’t fit in the family-friendly superhero picture. The directing is fast-paced, stylish and uses vast open roads to give it a sense of scope.

They also went far more hardcore than the first film, with Nicolas Cage going gonzo and Ghost Rider truly being something from your nightmares. The gloss of the first film was done away with, replaced with a rough and sleazy style, a high body count and twisted jokes so funny you can’t help but laugh.

Ghost Rider – Spirit of Vengeance, jettisons most of the original film but it’s not a total reboot either. Opening with a bizarrely cool animated sequence that draws more heavily from the comic books, Johnny Blaze fills us in on his backstory… with a few tweaks. However, this time Johnny’s in Eastern Europe for some reason and gets dragged into a quest to protect a young boy called Danny. Danny has the potential to be the new host body for the source of all evil, Mephisto…pheles, who’s now also called Roarke for some reason. Hooking up with some weird monks, Johnny thinks he’s done the job he had to and has Ghost Rider exorcised from his body. Except, of course, he’s wrong.

Stripped of his powers, Johnny needs to get his act together and reclaim what he gave up, condemning himself once more. It’s the only way to defeat the Devil and save the kid, which leads to one of the few genuine action sequences of the film as Ghost Rider plays leap-frog with a convoy of vehicles in a race against the clock. One underwhelming boss fight later, and Johnny’s riding off to into the distance as some clanging alternative music blares about.

Neither of these films are classics in any way. They’re two films that require your brain to be switched off, asking you to succumb to a couple of unremarkable action scenes punctuated with long stretches of bland exposition. Strangely though, both also have elements that work. The first film, despite its mundane script and bizarrely looking more low-budget in quality than it was, seems more formulaic as a comic book movie. The concept of Johnny living the life of a puritanical daredevil is intriguing and fun, although sadly there’s little of the Johnny Blaze from the comics here.

ghost rider nic cage

The sequel went in the opposite direction, creating a far more hardcore Ghost Rider vibe which actually works for the source material. It’s a bleak, moody film which could have worked when looking at the Netflix/Marvel Knights shows of today. However, the shift in tone from the previous film and another weak script both hurt the finished product. Plus, there are plenty of unlikeable and completely forgettable characters in both films… but more so in this one.

The first film ranks up there with the first two Fantastic Four films as being briefly entertaining and nothing more. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, by contrast, strangely gets better the more times you watch it and if you fancy some Crank-style comic book mayhem then it’s worth a look. For Marvel fans, there’s enough in the Ghost Rider franchise to justify a place in their DVD collections… but only down the lower end, next to Punisher: War Zone.

So, were the Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider movies really that bad? Let us know in the comments.

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Comments 25

  1. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Yes. They were that bad.

    Reply
  2. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    The clue is in the question.

    Reply
  3. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Ashley Wilkinson

    Reply
  4. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    They were fun
    Stupid but fun , they’re my guilty pleasure movies

    Reply
  5. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    I enjoyed them. I initially didn’t like the second one, but after watching again, found ways to appreciate it. Not amazing films, but undeserving of its harsh criticism.

    Reply
  6. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago
    Reply
  7. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    They wern’t as bad as some of the marvel studios offerings , here’s looking at you iron man 3

    Reply
    • Avatar Anonymous says:
      3 years ago

      It BAFFLES me how many people i’m finding out that really didn’t like Iron Man 3. In my opinion, Iron Man 2 was the worst Marvel studios offering.

      Reply
  8. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    They wern’t as bad as some of the marvel studios offerings , here’s looking at you iron man 3

    Reply
  9. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Liked the first one

    Reply
  10. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Wow so people can not have different opinions?? I loved them I don’t listen to what other people think I loved them

    Reply
    • Avatar Anonymous says:
      2 years ago

      I LOVE both! This is like Green Lantern just cause it didn’t make what they hoped at the box office, doesn’t make it terrible. The actor seems embarrassed to have made them and I don’t understand why I really really hoped he would make more but Cage won’t. It would have been cool to see him in the MCU though. At least a cameo in Agents of Shield would have been AWSOME, him and Robbie Reyes together would be really cool to watch. Or Nic could appear in the new ghost rider TV show that is supposed to come out!! HUGE MASSIVE LARGE GIGANTIC ALL SYNONYMS FOR BIG FAN OF GHOST RIDER BTW!!!!!

      Reply
  11. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    There was an opportunity for this to be an awesome movie franchise but they missed the mark it could have been so much better but I liked them especially the 1st one

    Reply
  12. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    The first one was cool. The second was bad. The ending of part 2 where his flames turn blue were cool as hell.

    Reply
  13. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Yes… yes they were.

    Reply
  14. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    The 1st movie was OK the second one was crap

    Reply
  15. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    The second one, yes.

    Reply
  16. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Loved the first one, but second was ok

    Reply
  17. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Yes.

    Reply
    • Avatar Anonymous says:
      3 years ago

      Fuck yes!

      Reply
  18. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    No2 was terrible

    Reply
  19. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Drive Angry was the best (unofficial) Ghost Rider movie

    Reply
  20. Avatar Anonymous says:
    3 years ago

    Enjoyed the first one, it went down hill from there

    Reply
  21. Avatar Jack Gray says:
    3 years ago

    They’re both great films. The first one is a classic.

    Reply
  22. Avatar Anonymous says:
    2 years ago

    I LOVE both! This is like Green Lantern just cause it didn’t make what they hoped at the box office, doesn’t make it terrible. The actor seems embarrassed to have made them and I don’t understand why I really really hoped he would make more but Cage won’t. It would have been cool to see him in the MCU though. At least a cameo in Agents of Shield would have been AWSOME, him and Robbie Reyes together would be really cool to watch. Or Nic could appear in the new ghost rider TV show that is supposed to come out!! HUGE MASSIVE LARGE GIGANTIC ALL SYNONYMS FOR BIG FAN OF GHOST RIDER BTW!!!!!

    Reply

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