Perplexingly, the movie elsewhere assures us that the demons "can't go on sacred ground.")Īs he did in Daredevil, Johnson distills elements from multiple versions of his source material into an eclectic story peppered with homages and asides that diehard fans may appreciate. (We never learn happens to the priest, but Blackheart, who has just finished lighting a rack of candles in a church, doesn't seem intimidated by sacred things. ![]() ![]() There's also a Spanish priest who defensively raises the crucifix of his rosary against a demon named Blackheart (Wes Bentley), apparently to no effect. Michael casting down Satan are seen more than once, and we're told that four of the demonic characters were cast out of heaven by Michael himself. Once they've been cast out of heaven, it seems the only thing fallen angels have to fear on the face of the earth is someone badder than they are.Įva Mendes as Roxanne, in one of the few times she's not showing cleavageĭepictions of St. God may be on Johnny Blaze's side, but he doesn't seem to be doing blazes to help him against the forces of darkness arrayed against him. Yet in a story that finds room for (I think) six to eight different demonic figures (depending whether you count the two Ghost Riders), once again the powers of heaven are present in name and image only. Writer Tony Isabella, who developed the story in that 1973 issue, has observed that there were "plenty of Satan avatars active in the Marvel Universe, but precious little evidence of the loyal opposition." (Isabella planned to have Blaze become a Christian and be delivered from the Devil's power, but this was squelched, and even Jesus' appearance later reinterpreted, apparently at the insistence of controversial editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.)įilmmaker Mark Steven Johnson knows the Ghost Rider mythos backward and forward, and has synthesized elements from four decades of different comic-book series about characters called Ghost Rider, not all of which were originally connected, into a single story. Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost RiderĪn early Ghost Rider storyline in the comic books featured a startling contrast to this general principle: In Ghost Rider #9, Johnny Blaze is granted his "second chance" by no less than Jesus Christ himself, who delivers Blaze from the Devil's clutches, saying, "Johnny Blaze's soul is beyond you, Satan. (In one scene demons kill a priest right in front of an angel, who can only comfort him as he dies, and another major angelic figure turned out to be a dangerous wacko.) Then there's Spawn, in which a damned soul subverts hell's plans to attack heaven, without much evident support from heaven itself. Constantine at least had angels around, although they seemed impotent and passive compared to the demons. In Hellboy, the villain went so far as to taunt one of the heroes about how "your God remains silent" while the villain's "god" was active in the world. Religious references and iconography are allowed, yet as the powers of hell run amok on the earth, the powers of heaven seem distant and uninvolved. In supernatural comic-book movies, though, "God's side" can be a pretty abstract concept, especially compared to, well, the other side. "You did it for the right reason," Slade assures Blaze, "and that means you've got God on your side." Or does he deserve "a second chance"?Ĭarter Slade (Sam Elliott) is sure Blaze deserves a second chance-even if his "mistake" was selling his soul to a devil named Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) in order to save a loved one dying from cancer. "If someone makes a mistake-a big mistake-do you think they should have to pay for it every day for the rest of their life?" ponders Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage).
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