When
I arrived at the
Hollywood
Forever
Cemetery
, right in the heart of
Hollywood
; I found myself walking amongst the graves of those who left us
behind. Along the many rows of
the dead, I found myself standing next to where Mel Blanc was laid
to rest. As were many others
here including Peter Lorre and Rudolph Valentino.
But I wasn’t here in memory of the dead, nor was I looking
to hang with a few walking corpses, Romero style… I was looking
for ghosts. In particular, I
was looking to get a glimpse of the Ghost Rider!
The
night was spectacular; as the sun went down, the cemetery was lit
with a red glow. All those
attending seemed to be in the mood for a dark night in the cemetery,
and event for which I should thank Sony for graciously inviting
JoBlo.com to attend, with a number of other journalists.
There was food, drinks and of course gravestones all around
us. Then things got really
exciting when I took Ghost Rider’s “Hell Bike” for a run, and
when I say I took it out for a run, I mean that I got to pose on it
for a couple of pictures. Still,
it was a fantastic experience sitting on this bad ass looking
motorcycle from hell.
And
once the lights went out, we all got a glimpse of the upcoming Sony
release GHOST
RIDER starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes; and I gotta say
that it looks like it’s going to be one helluva ride (like you
didn’t see that coming). If
you haven’t read the comics, you don’t know the story of Johnny
Blaze and his deal with the devil. He
is not looking for riches or fame… no, he is just looking to save
his dad from illness. And as
most of you know, don’t make a deal with the devil if you can’t
pay, and Johnny “pays” when he becomes the devil’s bounty
hunter, bringing people back to hell when they get out.
This last bit regarding the bounty hunter was not part of the
original comic but something added to the movie.
The
audience was shown about five scenes from the film.
This included the first transformation scene as Johnny Blaze
becomes the Ghost Rider. His
body begins to burn as the heat rips through him, burning his flesh
away. Nic Cage looks like he
is feeling the heat, especially early on when you see his legs catch
fire. Interestingly enough,
they were on fire! Pretty good
stuff here and it kept my attention. It
kind of had that AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, “This is gonna
hurt!” attitude; good stuff.
Next
up we get a nice little scene where Johnny Blaze tells Roxanne
Simpson about the whole deal with the devil and how he turns into a
monster. It opens with him
trying to control the fire inside and just after he throws a flame
or two, Roxanne comes in demanding answers for his erratic behavior.
Something unusual happens in that he actually tells her the
truth which never happens in super hero flicks…you think she
believes him?
The
next few moments really sold me on checking this bad boy out.
Ghost Rider runs loose setting the streets on fire and making
a police officer checking for speeding cars wish he had taken the
night off. A fun little
introduction for when the cops really are after Mr. Rider with
police cars, helicopters and some pissed off coppers.
When he tears it up, riding fast onto the top of a bridge and
takes a leap into the water below, the men in blue get a nice
surprise when he flies across the water… the “hell bike”
rules!
After
he loses the cops, one lone officer takes chase, but to no avail.
Ghost Rider takes turn…
UP, then the hell bike speeds up the side of a high rise.
Once on top, one of the bad dudes trying to avoid hell with
Blackheart (Wes Bentley) attempts to take care of Ghost Rider before
he takes care of them. But
after a long hard run from the police, Ghost Rider is ready to
rumble. This whole sequence
just had me going. Yes, the
CGI is there, but I found myself rooting for this demon from hell.
The action was cool, and if you think him driving that bike
up the building was bad ass, wait until he goes down.
This is good shite folks!
And
finally we have a few images of Johnny Blaze at a cemetery with the
man, Sam Elliott. It was a trip to see this creepy image in the
middle of a cemetery with a pitch black sky.
We were in a freaking graveyard… watching a movie!
And as the two ride off, we are treated to a pretty good
attempt at Johnny Cash’s classic “(Ghost Rider’s) In the
Sky” with an alt-rock twist.
Yes
folks, I’m groovin’ on what I saw.
It looks to have a very dark edge with a little camp thrown
in for good measure (although I hope to hear the Man in Blacks
version somewhere in the film). The
Ghost Rider, although a CG character, looks cool enough to make me
wanna take a trip to down under; and I don’t mean in Australia,
where it was shot.
After
getting a sneak peek at the movie and the trailer, we all sat down
to talk with the writer and director Mark Steven Johnson and the
films two stars, Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.
Even though it was cold, there was a celebratory sense in the
air. This was the first time
an audience had seen as much of the film as we did.
And there is no better place than in a graveyard.
GHOST
RIDER opens wide on February 16th, 2007. Check out its official
website right HERE.
Interviews
coming up...!!
