I listened on the radio to the distinctive timbre of Nicholas Cage last week. He was being interviewed about his second excursion as Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider. I have to admit, he made a valiant attempt at making the film sound like it might have at least some artistic merit. It was, upon seeing it, a hope against hope. It's probably prudent to make sure you have a story before you go any further with a movie project and I sometimes wonder if finding a viable plot is ever part of the discussion process at all for what might be called 'knock off' movies. These are either sequels to films that surprisingly made money against the odds or 'fresh' interpretations of an already established theme - usually live action plays on R rated video games.
To my memory none of these adaptations have been anything to write home about, and some have been awful. Yet, someone clearly green lights this stuff, puts cash into it and we punters end up getting to see the finished product, warts and all. Well, we do if we're fool enough to pay the money and sit there long enough. I know - I just did it with Ghost Rider - in 'eye popping' 3D no less. Headache inducing more like. Even thirty seconds in I was dropping the glasses down my nose and checking to see if the film was actually 3D at all. It was another poorly retro fitted rendering that could surely provide no thrills. Worse was the fact that there was no 2D version on offer. It was buy glasses or nowt, my friends. I should really have gone for the nowt option. Don't get me wrong here. I am quite prepared to sit and give just about any film the benefit of the doubt, but there are limits, even for me. There was a time I think, when breathtaking special effects could cover a multitude of sins. It was a time I would suppose that if the effects looked good the film itself must be good. Okay, I was young and impressionable - and dazzled by technology.
I recall seeing 'Star Wars - A new hope' for the first time back in 1977. The Cinema showing it was a huge gothic place that had sat proudly through World War 1 and survived the heavy bombing of World War 2. The 'Dorchester' was a white painted carbuncle, single screen and (unknown to me at the time) only a couple of years off the end of it's run, before being closed and ending up as a storage facility for Comet Electrical. The film was to be projected in 70mm and a temporary surround sound system had to be specially installed for the stereo soundtrack. I don't think anyone who saw the film with an open mind that first week will ever forget it. I know I won't, even though I have seen it many times since. It was the most incredible thing I'd ever witnessed on film. Or maybe I just - thought it was. Watching again and trying to conjure up that same feeling of wonder now is, alas, an impossible task. The flaws I never noticed, that bugged George Lucas enough to want to go back and produce the special editions, had been brought to light, and that immaculate sheen got tarnished just a little. Not much. Just a little. But it was enough. It was enough to drag me out of suspension of disbelief, to realise I was just watching another movie after all, made by people who wanted to make money and not merely give me a cinematic thrill.
So, it's really not enough to depend on special effects, gunfights, fist fights, and general carnage to make a lesser film work. We are all certainly beyond this as a more discerning audience, and I gladly say hallelujah to that. A film worth it's keep is surely more than a money making vehicle, when in essence that's probably exactly what it's intention has to be in most cases. It's only when the veneer covering a movie is embarrassingly wafer thin, as in Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance, that we see through it all, to the substandard product beyond the glitter and shimmer.
Next time I'll know better, or I'll insist my son goes to the Cinema with one of his mates . . .
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