Ghost Rider (2007 film) = Finished (Patreon)

Phew. Had to get that out of my system.

Do you know what was the superhero movie of the day just a year after this released? Iron Man. The cinema revolution that, to this day, dominates the box office, came only a year after Ghost Rider earned over 200 million dollars. For some reason, that boggles my mind. It makes me consider the other pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe titles that came around. Ang Lee's Hulk. The Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. All the things we've lost and gained as a result of the superhero movie becoming its own genre--with all the dignity, innovation, and limitations that accompany it.

Yes, most superhero movies now hit a consistent bar of quality writing and visual excess. Timelines for release are set years in advance, and met like clockwork. However, I think much of the goofiness of this proverbial Wild West period has been lost. Will we ever again have the absurd, monumental, brilliant stupidity of someone cramming every editing technique and After Effects feature they could into a single movie? Probably not. And to some degree, I'll miss that.

The weird results that emerged from filmmakers scrounging together whatever resources they could, to create products for a public starving for cinematic superheroes, instead of drowning in them.

Also: Nicolas Cage is great in here.
His Johnny Blaze is what would happen if a live-action Lightning McQueen discovered Everything bagels, and I mean that in the best ways possible.