Reviews

As I realize Ghost Rider is based on comic books and I have no detailed familiarity with the comic book I cannot judge the movie according to the comic book details. I can tell you this movie meets the expectations of the Marvel comics and provides entertainment under those aspects. While it may not have been the blockbuster we saw with Spiderman, that may only lie in the fact that Spiderman was more well known. The special effects are very good.

Realize you are being introduced to a character with this movie. It is not like seeing the first Batman where most people were very familiar with the expected storyline. Ghost Rider starts from the beginning giving the character purpose. You will not need a future movie to build the character's beginnings. Even if the numbers do not exceed expectations I fully expect a sequel from this feature.

Some people may have expected more dramatization or more side stories. I think you will see that in future sequels. Sony and Marvel have installed a foundation and now we see if they build on it.

The movie is fairly decent for all ages except the extremely young who may have a slight problem reconciling some of the ghostly images. It does touch to the edge of fright without delving into a straight out horror flick, which is not its goal.

Go see it. It is worth the initial viewing and fans will probably buy the DVD.

Night at the Museum came through on both the realistic effects and on providing an actual moral to the story. Maybe the moral was the influence of Robin Williams who plays a minor but pivotal role in the movie. There are a couple of places in the movie where you might actually discern the computer generated graphics, but for the amount needed to create the movie they did well.

It was nice to see some familiar faces who you may not have seen on the screen in a few years. Dick Van Dyke brings his usual comedic performance and is still showing some of his limber moves. Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs both shine again, each showing their trademark performances as well.

I will not spoil the movie for you but I will say stay for the credits. You always need one last laugh. Go see the movie and prepare from some laughs and a little bit of sympathy from this fairly decent line-up of stars.