#43: Ghost Rider/Bolt

Travolta/Cage

Nathan and Clint ride alone this week for two movies about going very fast - one for the kiddies, one for angsty Hot Topic teens!

First up is Ghost Rider, Nic Cage's first foray into the world of Marvel's very own bike-riding Spirit of Vengeance. The good news? Cage is really fun, injecting no small amount of Elvis-y elan to the deeply weird Johnny Blaze. The bad news? It's written and directed by Daredevil's Mark Steven Johnson, so literally nothing else works -- from the mall-goth villains to the ropey CG to Eva Mendes getting nothing to do but stand around in tight clothing. Bleak!

Luckily, we get a zipper, more complex kid's tale with Disney Animation Studios' first big hit, the Pixar-inflected Bolt, about a white lab (voiced by Travolta) who thinks he's a superhero, only to have to confront the horrors of the outside world. It's a cute, clever premise (what if The Incredibles was also The Truman Show?) elevated by sincere performances and some stunning animation that still holds up.

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