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‘Ghosted’ Review: A C.I.A. Meet Cute

A date becomes a spy skirmish in this action-heavy, paint-by-numbers Apple TV+ rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.

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By Calum Marsh

“Ghosted,” a frothy spy-thriller rom-com in the tradition of “Romancing the Stone” and “The Jewel of the Nile,” is one of the least convincing movies I have ever seen. I don’t just mean that the dialogue is trite and phony, or that the characters feel inauthentic, or that the action is badly choreographed, or even that the plot is paper-thin and contrived, although all of this is regrettably true.

I mean that “Ghosted” barely seems like a real movie. It has movie stars, in the figures of Ana de Armas and Chris Evans (and, as the villain, Adrien Brody). It has a competent director, Dexter Fletcher, whose hit “ Rocketman ” wasn’t half-bad.

But this tedious, unfunny, screamingly unoriginal romantic adventure film is so flimsy and so insubstantial that it’s practically vaporous.

Evans, who can be charming, stars as Cole, a clean-cut, down-to-earth farmer who dreams of publishing a book on the history of agriculture. While working at his family market stall one afternoon, he meets Sadie (de Armas), and within minutes the two embark on a high-speed fling. But it turns out that Sadie is a C.I.A. agent, code name the Taxman, and in a gender-reversed “True Lies” situation, Cole is swiftly embroiled in Sadie’s high-stakes world of international espionage, whisked off in escapades across London and far-flung destinations that look like they were filmed on green screens.

Evans and de Armas are likable actors, but any charm they might have mustered for each other is torpedoed by the facile writing, featuring such memorable zingers as “I have dated some crazies in my day, but you are certifiable!”

The spy stuff is also laughable. The movie seems more concerned with shoehorning in transparently fan-baiting cameos (including Sebastian Stan and Ryan Reynolds) than with developing anything remotely like credible stakes, while the action set pieces suffer from unimaginative staging and some of the cheapest-looking visual effects in recent memory.

Ghosted Rated PG-13 for some graphic violence, torture, strong language and mild sexual content. Running time: 1 hour 56 minutes. Watch on Apple TV+.

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‘ghosted’ review: chris evans and ana de armas mix romance with secret agent antics in apple tv+’s frothy action-adventure.

Adrien Brody plays an arms dealer who puts a price on the protagonists’ heads for control of a lethal biochemical weapon in Dexter Fletcher’s high-octane spy flick.

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David Rooney

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If, ultimately, the film falls into a generic gene pool with other middling streamer originals like Netflix’s Red Notice or The Gray Man (the latter also a vehicle for Evans and de Armas) that probably won’t trouble the target audience.

It’s part of the machinery of voracious streaming platforms — they require constant feeding, but no matter how big and noisy and slick the attempts to replicate the studio blockbuster, they almost invariably end up being disposable entertainment. The absence of a theatrical splash generally ensures only the most ephemeral pop-culture imprint. They’re a commodity, in this case probably far less durable than most Apple products. That includes the Apple CarPlay prominently featured in the opening scene.

That said, Ghosted serves its purpose. It’s enjoyable enough, if not quite the rollicking thrill ride that Fletcher’s breathless pacing and steady barrage of vehicular chases, gunfire, explosions and mano a mano scraps in far-flung locations would have you believe.

Despite their initial friction, they go on an impromptu date. They soak up picturesque Georgetown and race up the Exorcist steps before taking in the National Gallery of Art. But neither Sadie’s peak athletic condition nor her basic taste in painters (“I love Monet!”) make him suspect she might not be telling the truth about her job as an art curator. At the end of a full day and night of walking and talking slathered in random vocal tracks, they fall into bed and Cole is instantly smitten.

Back at his parents’ farm the next day, Cole’s mother (Amy Sedaris) and father (Tate Donovan) both seem thrilled that he’s met a woman he thinks might be “the one.” His teasing sister (Lizze Broadway) predicts he’ll scare her off fast with his usual clinginess, and when his stream of texts and emojis to Sadie are ignored, she appears to be right. But Cole realizes he left his asthma inhaler in Sadie’s backpack and a tracking app attached to the medical device allows him to trace her to London.

The fact that his condition is barely mentioned again despite him being put through a series of physical ordeals that would kill most asthmatics is just one of those screenplay contrivances it’s best to ignore. Likewise, Cole helping out with the foreshadowing by musing, “I think the trips that you plan the least are the ones that give you the most.” This from a man who is revealed never to have left the country.

Just as eager torturer Borislov (Tim Blake Nelson, working a chewy Russian accent) is about to deploy flesh-eating bugs to extract a passcode from Cole, who’s as panicked as he is bewildered, gun-toting Sadie bursts in to rescue him and take out a small army of villains. She’s the real Taxman, duh, and she’s underwhelmed by his romantic surprise and annoyed by the liability of having to keep him safe while she mows down bad guys.

That shifts them instantly back to antagonistic banter, notably throughout one of the film’s key roller-coaster action sequences, aboard a colorfully decorated bus, under assault as it careens around the mountainous Khyber Pass in Pakistan.

Fletcher conducts the high-speed chase more than competently, but it’s the sparks generated by de Armas and Evans that keep it buoyant. Sadie handles herself like a seasoned super-spy, never scared, even in one-against-multitudes situations. Cole bumbles his way to the occasional winning move, at one point using a gag-gift cactus as a weapon. The script could hardly be more schematic in their character breakdowns — he uses his parents’ farm as an excuse to avoid life; she uses her work to avoid getting close to anyone — but the charismatic leads sell it.

The action shifts from Pakistan to an island in the Arabian Sea and back to D.C., where Sadie gets into trouble for going rogue. But CIA brass (Anna Deavere Smith) determines that they need to keep Cole around as bait, particularly once his knowledge of crops proves useful in deciphering a mystery. The spin-cycle climax high above the Washington skyline is a reminder of why dining in revolving restaurants is rarely a good idea.

Aside from the famous faces turning up as bounty hunters and a former lover still carrying a torch for Sadie, nothing terribly surprising happens. But Ghosted is engaging on its own undemanding terms, never lingering over the body count and cushioning the violence in a light, playful tone. That also means there’s never much sense of any real danger. Whipped along by a team of three busy editors and a string of punchy needle drops (The Knack’s “My Sharona” in Pakistan? Sure, why not?), the movie is pacy popcorn entertainment with deluxe leads. It goes down painlessly, even if you’ll likely forget it the minute it’s over.

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Roger Ebert once famously wrote in his Glossary of Movie Terms that no good movie had ever been made since 1977 featuring a character with the first name of Cole. (Inexplicably, he went on to make an exception for the decidedly not-good “Days of Thunder.”) I cannot say for sure whether that rule has held up over the years, but I suspect if he had lived to see “Ghosted,” he might have elected to finally retire it once and for all on the basis that there was no worse example that could ever come along. This film is so smug and self-satisfied that you can practically feel the contempt everyone involved with its production has for its audience.

Our Cole ( Chris Evans ) is a farmer/agricultural historian who is perpetually unlucky in love because he tends to get too intense too early and scares people off. He meets the mysterious Sadie ( Ana de Armas ) at a farmer's market, and the two seem to hit it off famously throughout a long date that covers everything from karaoke to a visit to the famous steps from " The Exorcist ." Alas, when he tries to contact her the next day, she ignores his incessant texts and emojis. Thanks to a decidedly lame plot construct, he figures out that she is now in London, and, in what he considers to be a grand romantic gesture and not a massive red flag, he decides to fly over there and surprise her. This is supposed to be charming and not at all creepy, with even his parents ( Tate Donovan and a spectacularly wasted Amy Sedaris ) urging him on.

After arriving, he thinks he's tracked her down but is immediately kidnapped and taken to the lair of a torturer named Borislov (Tim Blake Nelson ), who believes Cole is someone known as The Taxman who has crucial information that he hopes to extract via the use of murder hornets. Before that can happen, he is rescued by a mysterious figure who turns out to be ... Sadie. It turns out that she is actually a CIA agent pursuing a master criminal named Leveque ( Adrien Brody ), who is attempting to acquire the codes for a spectacularly deadly new super weapon so that he can sell it on the black market. These codes are thought to be in possession of The Taxman, and since everyone thinks that Cole is the Taxman, he becomes the target, with Sadie using him as bait to stop the bad guys for good. This leads them on an international journey to stop Leveque and potentially save the world while bickering and bantering between the incessant gunshots, explosions, and car chases that comprise most of the plot.

You may recall—though you will be infinitely happier if you don’t—last year's “ The Gray Man ,” an incredibly lousy and thoroughly unmemorable load of international espionage claptrap that was like watching someone else playing a bad video game. That film happened to co-star Evans and de Armas, and I can’t help but wonder if they made a secret pact between them to try to find another such vehicle that was even more vapid and forgettable. Mission accomplished. There has been a lot of talk lately about artificial intelligence programs being used to create art and the potentially disastrous repercussions that might occur as a result. Although “Ghosted” has no fewer than four people credited with the screenplay and a director, Dexter Fletcher , whose previous “ Rocketman ” was one of the better music biopics of recent years, it feels as if it was created by just such a program, one evidently focused on following tired algorithms than anything remotely resembling genuine creative inspiration.

The aforementioned screenplay is little more than a half-assed rehash of “ True Lies ,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “ Knight and Day ,” and the like that brings absolutely nothing of interest to the table. "Ghosted" is essentially a laundry line connecting its interchangeable action beats with tired characters, lazy plotting, and a complete lack of wit, humor, excitement, thrills, or basic coherence. Those aforementioned action sequences are certainly big and noisy, but Fletcher shoots them in such a bland, disengaged manner that he makes the Russo brothers look like the Coens in terms of stylistic flair. In what I can only assume was an effort to try to distract viewers from the formulaic proceedings, the film throws in a bunch of familiar faces in brief cameo appearances, which prove to be little more than a distraction from a movie that's pretty much a distraction all by itself.

However, the worst aspect of “Ghosted” is the virtually nonexistent chemistry between Evans and de Armas. Both are good actors and undeniably charismatic performers, but they fail to click here on any level. Watching the two struggle to strike sparks with such substandard material is genuinely painful. This would be bad enough, but the film inadvertently underlines this flaw with a running gag in which other characters comment that they should get a room because the sexual tension between them is off the charts. Based on the available evidence, this may be true, but, unfortunately, it is off the charts in the wrong direction—there was more palpable heat between the two of them in “ Knives Out ” than there is at any point here, and they weren’t even necessarily trying in that one.

“Ghosted” is a tedious exercise in sheer greed and laziness that presumes if enough money and famous faces are tossed into the mix, no one will notice, or at least mind, the utter vacuousness of the enterprise. By a bit of happenstance, I wound up seeing this film immediately after watching “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” and was in an uncharacteristically good mood as a result of that genuinely wonderful movie. However, by the time “Ghosted” finally dragged itself across the finish line—complete with threatening future installments—that sense of good cheer and hopefulness regarding the possibilities of cinema had been completely eradicated. At least the aforementioned “The Gray Man” had the dignity to be completely forgettable—honestly, before I mentioned it, did you even recall that it existed? But I have a terrible feeling this one is going to stick in your mind for a long time after you see it, no matter how hard you may try to erase it.

On Apple TV+ now.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Film Credits

Ghosted (2023)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence/action, brief strong language and some sexual content.

116 minutes

Ana de Armas as Sadie

Chris Evans as Cole Riggan

Adrien Brody as Leveque

Mike Moh as Wagner

Amy Sedaris as Mom

Tim Blake Nelson as Borislov

Tate Donovan as Dad

Lizze Broadway as Mattie

Marwan Kenzari as Marco

• Dexter Fletcher

Writer (story by)

• Rhett Reese
• Paul Wernick
• Chris McKenna
• Erik Sommers

Cinematographer

• Salvatore Totino
• Chris Lebenzon
• Josh Schaeffer
• Lorne Balfe

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‘Ghosted’ Review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas Team Up for a Romantic Action Comedy in Which the (Overbaked) Action Crushes the Romance

De Armas is a cutthroat spy, Evans an innocent farmer who gets enmeshed in the action, in a movie too over-the-top and convoluted to make good on its star chemistry.

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We’re talking a set-up that’s too defiantly farfetched to hook into. Fight scenes out of a Jason Statham movie but staged with far less precision. An arbitrary series of international settings. An espionage-thriller plot that’s just convoluted yet inconsequential enough to be thoroughly annoying. And a romantic connection between the two stars that doesn’t so much grow and develop as metastasize and get trampled, though theoretically we’re meant to look at their machinations and think: The couple that makes it through a top-heavy put-on thriller this exhausting together stays together.  

The title sounds like it’s telling us that someone’s going to get ghosted — but it’s actually ­a reference to Cole’s paranoia about being ghosted, which leads him to frantically text Sadie the next day. (He doesn’t think he’s sending her too many texts, because he doesn’t count the emoji texts.) Cole lives with his family on a lovely farm outside Washington, where his folksy parents (Tate Donovan and Amy Sedaris) are more supportive of him than his brassy sister (Lizze Broadway) is. But they all can agree on this: Calm it down! Don’t act so needy!

Cole, however, can’t help himself. It’s in his nature to be that outdated thing, the overly super-nice guy. So after Sadie doesn’t return his texts, and he discovers, by tracking the asthma inhaler he left in her purse (that’s the first time our plausibility alert button goes off; it won’t be the last), that she’s gone to London, he makes an impulsive decision. He will fly across the ocean and surprise her! As if this were the climax of a ’90s rom-com and not the kickoff of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink streaming movie.

Will Cole look like a stalker? Of course he will! No sane person would do this. But the movie needs him to be in London so that he can suddenly get surrounded by three henchman who mistake him for…the Taxman. That’s the code name for a mysterious espionage specter he is very much not. (It’s also an excuse to use the Beatles’ “Taxman.”) So why would they think that’s who he is? Why would a sinister baddie (Tim Blake Nelson) with a Cold War Dracula accent strap him into a chair and begin torturing him with a smorgasbord of live bugs? If you haven’t already figured it out, the theme of “Ghosted” — or at least its modus operandi —is, Why ask why?

A good rom-act-com should escalate, slowly but surely, so the audience feels like it’s being invited along for the ride. “Ghosted,” on the other hand, wastes no time dropping Cole and Sadie into a desert in Pakistan, where they commander a colorful spangly indigenous bus and engage in a cliff-side road chase that looks like it wants to be the centerpiece sequence of “Indiana Jones XIV.” That Cole, an innocent farmer, is already hanging off the side of the bus like an action demigod is less nagging than the central confusion built into the story. Sadie, in case I forgot to mention it, is a CIA cutthroat who didn’t plan on Cole following her to London. Yet she never looks the least bit nonplussed about the fact that he showed up. Even as they become partners, the two maintain their hostility, which is partly rooted in her “man over mission” ethos. (She values the mission more than the life of any colleague. Including Cole.)

In a running gag, famous actors keep showing up, unbilled, as assassins, only to be assassinated after two minutes of screen time. In another running gag, everyone keeps telling Cole and Sadie, “You two should get a room,” the joke being that they’re fighting like cats and dogs. We get it: They’re expressing their sexual chemistry. There’s an action scene set aboard a plane set to Jet’s triumphantly raucous “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” which leads to the two being stranded on an island in the Arabian Sea. At this point you may start to notice that the movie isn’t building their chemistry — it’s getting in the way of it.

“Ghosted” works up to an elaborate sequence, set in a glassed-in skyscraper restaurant, that may remind you of a lot of other, better sequences. The espionage intrigue is rote; the action is more bombastic than any rom-act-com can truly sustain. I’m not sure if Dexter Fletcher has it in him to stage an elegantly fanciful-yet-plausible action scene. Yet in “Ghosted,” he tosses a whole lot of stuff into the blender, and that’s supposed to be enough. The action in this movie doesn’t really do much to bring the two characters together, except to the extent that when it’s over it’s like Novocaine wearing off.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, April 18, 2023. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 116 MIN.

• Production: An Apple TV+ release of a Skydance Media, Apple Original Films production. Producers: David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Chris Evans, Jules Daly, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese. Executive producers: Donald J. Lee Jr., Brian Bell, Ana de Armas.
• Crew: Director: Dexter Fletcher. Screenplay: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers. Camera: Salvatore Totino. Editors: Chris Lebenzon, Jim May, Josh Schaeffer. Music: Lorne Balfe.
• With: Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Mike Moh, Tate Donavan, Amy Sedaris, Lizze Broadway, Tim Blake Nelson.

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Review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas rely on chemistry in the silly yet amusing ‘Ghosted’

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It was the best of dates, it was the worst of dates. Such is the case in “Ghosted,” a preposterous but entertaining action-comedy in which a risk-averse farmer (though not your father’s farmer) falls for a captivating art curator, only to discover — the really, really hard way — that she’s actually a bone-cracking, sharpshooting, globe-trotting CIA agent. Oh, and that his life is in mortal danger. Ah, romance!

Chris Evans , at his limber, charismatic best, plays lovelorn Cole Turner (nickname “Cole Slaw.” Groan.) He lives and works with his parents (Tate Donovan, Amy Sedaris) and needling kid sister (Lizze Broadway) on the family farm and sells its products at a Washington, D.C., farmers market. It’s there he meets Sadie Rhodes ( Ana de Armas ), an elusive shopper who catches his eye. After a bit of sexy clashing — and a few too many plant metaphors — they go out for coffee, hit a bunch of D.C. hot spots and are together until the next morning.

Cole thinks she’s “the one” but, when she doesn’t return his flurry of texts, the smitten guy wonders if she’s ghosted him after one marathon date. When he learns (via an all-too-handy app) that she’s gone to London, he decides to make a grand gesture and flies there to surprise her — only to be mistaken for a legendary operative called “The Taxman.” (Thanks to the film’s clearly ample music budget, the Beatles song will be ringing in your ears.) Cole’s knocked out by goons, then wakes up in a cave in — wait for it — the Khyber Pass, where he’s being interrogated and tortured for the passcodes to unlock Aztec, a bioweapon of mass destruction that Leveque (Adrien Brody), a coldblooded, Mr. Big-type arms dealer, has a plan to cash in on.

To say that Cole is bewildered, would be an understatement. But it’s nothing compared to his shock when the real “Taxman” shows up, guns a-blazing — and it’s Sadie. She saves Cole’s life but is less than happy to see him, especially with her cover blown.

It’s worth noting, even at this early stage of the story, that the somewhat hapless and gentle Cole wouldn’t have lasted five minutes amid the initial mayhem. But then there wouldn’t be a movie — or at least this movie — if logic was a priority, so it’s probably best to put your brain on idle and settle into the silliness.

A whirlwind of wild action, quite competently staged and rendered by director Dexter Fletcher (“Rocketman”), follows as Cole and Sadie death-defyingly battle the baddies, including a revolving door of bounty hunters (cue the celebrity cameos), Leveque’s sleek henchman, Wagner (Mike Moh) and, later, a Mr. Even-Bigger-Than-Leveque evildoer named Utami (Stephen Park), all to keep Aztec out of the wrong hands and, y’know, save the planet.

The mismatched pair’s nutso mission takes them from Pakistan and Afghanistan to an island in the Arabian Sea and then back to our nation’s capital (the film was effectively shot in Atlanta, New Mexico, London and D.C.) as they, of course, survive such massive ordeals as a crazy chase through a packed outdoor bazaar, a high-velocity race in an old jungle bus down a mountain switchback, and the movie’s uniquely impressive pièce de résistance: a massive, climactic mêlée atop a sky-high revolving restaurant. Kudos to the picture’s creative and technical team for these eye-popping sequences.

But since this is, at heart, a rom-com — albeit an extremely noisy, frantic and contrived one — the script, by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna andErik Sommers (story by Reese and Wernick), works hard to keep Cole and Sadie bickering, bantering and futilely attempting to resist each other at every treacherous turn. (How folks in films like this manage to exchange quips and barbs amid raging gunfire and wall-flinging fisticuffs remains a dubious wonder.)

Evans (a producer here) and de Armas (an executive producer), who’ve previously appeared together in “Knives Out” and “The Gray Man,” prove a game and appealing duo. They take the film’s ridiculousness just seriously enough to keep barreling through while navigating the more puckish bits with the requisite charm and buoyancy.

Still, the whole enterprise is as far-fetched as they come as it amusingly plies the belief that love can conquer all — even world domination. You could do worse.

'Ghosted'

Rated: PG-13, for sequences of strong violence/action, brief strong language and some sexual content Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes Playing: Available April 21 on Apple TV+

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Ghosted Review

An outlandish action rom-com that can’t shoot straight enough to hit a bullseye..

Ghosted is now streaming on Apple TV+

Do you miss the lovesick nonsense of action rom-coms like This Means War or The Bounty Hunter? Look no further than director Dexter Fletcher's Ghosted, (named after the modern dating phenomenon of going radio silent rather than actually breaking off a relationship) which becomes a secret agent meet-cute. It's never more than lovey-dovey, bullet-flinging escapism from start to finish, hinged on beautiful leads whose chemistry is squeezed dry like weeks-old toothpaste tubes, but also outwardly enjoys tinkering with overused rom-com cliches even as bodies pile sky high. Expect a ridiculously farfetched tale about finding love under the government’s nose (we're supposed to believe anyone would dump Chris Evans, under any circumstances?) that enjoys a good cameo surprise, and maybe you'll escape with a grin.

Evans plays innocent, starry-eyed farm boy Cole Turner, smitten after a magical date with usually closed-off art curator Sadie Rhodes (Ana de Armas). Evans giddily bucks historical rom-com trends where men are painted as the emotionally unavailable ones while it's up to women to thaw their frozen hearts, as Cole is the over-texter who flies to London on a whim to surprise Sadie after her lack of reciprocation causes him anxiety. Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (known for the Deadpool and Zombieland movies) team with co-writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (of Tom Holland's Spider-Man series) to seek newer representations of rom-com excitement, yet never get much further than that basic gender-role flip.

Ghosted boasts all the country-hopping, vehicle chase sequences, and double-crossing we’d expect from any James Bond or Jason Bourne movie, though it’s toned down a few notches. The focus is always on Sadie and Cole feeding the flames of newfound love, which leaves shadow operation details and what should be magnificent action sequences noticeably underserved. Sadie at least makes her tactical presence known early as she comically reveals her special agent status to a dumbstruck Cole, who almost dies horribly just for trying something vulnerably romantic (verging on stalker-creepy). For her part, de Armas is locked, and loaded for every scene, whether she's swiftly eliminating mercenaries or verbally sparring with Evans as they discuss common relationship hurdles – a cutesy game that inches dangerously close to growing old.

Back and forth their banter passes, as dialogue relates hostage scenarios or gunfights to dating pitfalls like opening ourselves to partnerships or being terrified of losing someone due to personal actions. Evans and de Armas are comfortable working through the spectacularly ludicrous scenario as bounty hunters and gang bosses threaten to cut their violent second date short, especially when romantic energy swells during couples choreography as henchmen attack the duo in swarms. It's just never expressively emphatic, since the writers do a lot of "telling, not showing" as characters frustratingly spell out how in love Cole and Sadie are like they expect we need convincing. (We do.)

What's your favorite action rom-com?

Where Ghosted struggles is stringing along Cole's civilian participation in an international espionage operation for almost two hours. Fletcher is a dependable director who navigates heartfelt conversations as cleanly as shoot-outs in twirling, tower-top restaurants, but the premise can feel like it's going through the motions during scenes of "will they, won't they" drama – as if there's any question about if we’re in for a happy ending.

For as lighthearted as it can be as Cole enters the fighting pose of a schoolboy who's never taken a punch and proudly proclaims, "I'm the boyfriend," storytelling can feel stretched beyond limits, like a captured spy pulled lengthwise on a torture rack. There's nothing exceedingly unfortunate about supporting performances that include a villainous Adrien Brody as a scumbag arms dealer or Amy Sedaris as Cole's kooky mother, or outright disappointing about the B-to-C-level fight sequences that do their job without wowing. Ghosted just sags in scattered moments that miss a top-tier romantic comedy's spark. We know where everything's going, so get there already.

Ghosted Photos

That said, the unmentionable gifts presented at random times throughout that albeit overlong duration are worth a few smirks. It’s hard not to chuckle as Evans interacts with familiar actors from his past – perhaps even laugh when they call back to shared lines – which adds to the pleasantness of Ghosted. Fletcher never plays the conceptually absurd yet recognizably sweet mashup of love and gunsmoke as anything but the cheesiest of hunger-erasing main courses.

If you're in the mood for Chris Evans and Ana de Armas doing a True Lies-style riff while their famous friends pop in for gag appearances that’ll make you say “I understood that reference!,” Ghosted is a mixed but viable option. Its espionage story is too drawn out, action interludes don't set the screen ablaze, nor does the romance get steamy enough to turn heads, but Evans and de Armas squeak by as an unlikely team who fight through a likely rom-com blueprint. Without the script spelling out letter-by-letter how we should feel about the reversed gender roles instead of letting authentic elation or excitement take hold, Ghosted would be more than a rogue mission that might stay under the radar. As is, there's enough to keep watching – but wanting more is not a crime.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Adventure blends romance, high-octane action; language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

It's okay to be vulnerable and to be afraid. Peopl

Sadie is a strong and independent woman with a dif

Cuban actress Ana de Armas' character describes es

Action sequences include kidnappings, car chases,

A man and a woman meet, fall in love, kiss, and ha

"F--k," variations of "s--t," "damn," "bitch," "he

Apple, CIA, Subaru, Chevrolet, Aston Martin, Toyot

Adults drink alcohol. A woman gets high on an edib

Parents need to know that Ghosted , which stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, is an action film dressed up as a romance or a romance steeped in action, depending on how you look at it. Either way, you can expect a lot of violence, as well as innuendo, kissing, and a non-explicit bedroom scene. There's also…

Positive Messages

It's okay to be vulnerable and to be afraid. People need people. There's a fine line between attentive and needy, as there is between independent and negligent. Killing bad guys is acceptable for some. "Mission over man." The film's title refers to the practice of not responding to someone's texts and disappearing on them.

Positive Role Models

Sadie is a strong and independent woman with a difficult past and a clandestine professional life. Cole is a sweet farmer dedicated to his family who can't keep a girlfriend because he's too clingy. Leveque and others are willing to torture and kill in order to acquire a biochemical weapon.

Diverse Representations

Cuban actress Ana de Armas' character describes escaping her country in a harrowing journey on a raft with her mother, who has since died. The film takes place mostly in the US, London, and Pakistan. One character, played by an American actor, is French. There are Black, Asian, and Middle Eastern heritage actors in the secondary cast.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Action sequences include kidnappings, car chases, crashes, explosions, gun and knife fights, acrobatic fist fights, torture scenes involving poisonous insects, a syringe to the neck, a missing hand, bleeding wounds, and dozens of killings. There's electrocution, a biochemical weapon at risk of falling into the wrong hands, mention of family members and friends dying, reference to Aztec human sacrifice, an asthma inhaler, and emigrants fleeing their country by raft.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A man and a woman meet, fall in love, kiss, and have sex (they're seen under the covers, but no body parts are shown). People repeatedly tell them to "get a room" because of the "sexual tension" between them. An ex-boyfriend references past intimacy, mentions the "no pants dance," and gestures masturbating. There's mention of where a child was conceived.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k," variations of "s--t," "damn," "bitch," "hell," "bastard," "psycho," "suckers," "idiot," "creep," "stupid," "Jesus," "God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Apple, CIA, Subaru, Chevrolet, Aston Martin, Toyota, WWE.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink alcohol. A woman gets high on an edible.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Ghosted , which stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas , is an action film dressed up as a romance or a romance steeped in action, depending on how you look at it. Either way, you can expect a lot of violence, as well as innuendo, kissing, and a non-explicit bedroom scene. There's also strong language throughout, including "f--k," variations on "s--t," "damn," "bitch," "hell," "bastard," and more. Action sequences include kidnappings, car chases, crashes, explosions, gun and knife fights, acrobatic fist fights, torture scenes involving poisonous insects, a syringe to the neck, a missing hand, bleeding wounds, and dozens of killings. There's also electrocution, a biochemical weapon at risk of falling into the wrong hands, mention of family members and friends dying, reference to human sacrifice, an asthma inhaler, and emigrants fleeing their country by raft. Adults drink alcohol, and a woman gets high on an edible. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Nice Surprise!

What's the story.

When handsome farmer Cole ( Chris Evans ) meets mysterious art curator Sadie ( Ana de Armas ), at the start of GHOSTED, sparks fly. Their mutual attraction gives way to arguments, then back to desire, as their first date evolves from coffee to a night spent wandering, talking, and eventually sleeping together. But the next day, Sadie doesn't respond to Cole's (many) texts. Wondering if she's ghosting him, Cole decides to make a "grand romantic gesture" and track her down in London. What he finds is not what he expects. Sadie is a spy, not a curator, and now the two are knee-deep in an international plot to traffic a weapon of mass destruction. Mastermind Leveque ( Adrien Brody ) thinks Cole has the code he needs to arm the weapon, and he's put a bounty on his head.

Is It Any Good?

The spirited chemistry between this film's two leads is what sells the package and keeps it interesting despite overly long and convoluted action sequences. For sure, the 25-minute opening act of a magical first date between Ghosted's main couple, Sadie and Cole, is endearing. Evans and de Armas meet cute as two very different types who can't deny their mutual attraction. Though the tonal shift to action might seem abrupt after this intro, the film proposes a twist by punctuating the action with a feisty back-and-forth and oft-referenced "sexual tension" between Evans' tenderhearted farmer and de Armas' cold spy.

There's novelty in these gender-swapped roles -- he's the clingy homebody, she's the loner action hero. Evans is a bit more believable in his role than wide-eyed de Armas is as a spy, until of course Cole starts taking out the bad guys with unexplained ease. Reports had Scarlett Johansson originally co-starring, but de Armas brings her own unique combination of sexiness and vulnerability to the role. There are plenty of amusing dialogues and situations here (and a string of cameos, including Ryan Reynolds ). If only the (four) writers had saved more time for talk and less for the Bond-èsque villains (Brody with a French accent) and protracted fight-and-chase sequences.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the main relationship in the movie. What do Sadie and Cole learn from each other about navigating a relationship in a healthy way?

Are the characters of Sadie and Cole believable? Why or why not? Do you think Evans and de Armas are right for their roles? If not, who would you cast?

How does this film incorporate humor into even the potentially most alarming action sequences? Does that make scenes of torture and life-or-death fights and chases less scary? What other movies have you watched that do this successfully?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : April 21, 2023
• Cast : Chris Evans , Ana de Armas , Adrien Brody
• Director : Dexter Fletcher
• Inclusion Information : Latino actors
• Studio : Apple TV+
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Sports and Martial Arts , Adventures
• Run time : 117 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sequences of strong violence/action, brief strong language and some sexual content
• Last updated : August 8, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Summary Salt-of-the-earth Cole (Chris Evans) falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie (Ana de Armas) — but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world. [Apple]

Directed By : Dexter Fletcher

Written By : Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers

Where to Watch

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Ghosted Reviews

Ghosted is even more bland and unoriginal than your typical Hallmark channel movie, with bad acting, terrible one-liners and a forgettable plot that fails miserably as it tries too hard to be too many things.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 16, 2024

Ghost yourself from this Chris Evans, Ana de Armas fever dream...

Full Review | Nov 16, 2023

A lot of predictable action...

Full Review | Sep 29, 2023

Like most contemporary blockbusters, Fletcher and co. plant the seeds for a potential sequel if the movie turns out to be a hit for Apple TV+. But I doubt too many people would be upset if we never heard from “Ghosted” again.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 9, 2023

It’s a pity how monotonous Ghosted ends up feeling considering the zest of it’s set-up.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 27, 2023

The action sequences in "Ghosted" are well crafted by Fletcher, even if the climax itself is a flashy comedy of errors.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

This is the kinda of movie, you sit on the couch, it's Saturday afternoon, you don't want to think too hard, you think why not? ...A decent movie, not the worst, not the best, but just fun mindless entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Jul 24, 2023

Comfortably cartoonish, funnier than expected and even kinda cute.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 24, 2023

Ghosted is a tremendous catastrophe. When the only memorable moments of the entire film are the myriad cameos totally disconnected from the story itself, little else can be said about it. Very far from the "so bad it’s good" status.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Jul 21, 2023

It tries too hard at some points and feels overly comical at others, but eh, Chris Evans, as a precious himbo farmer who knows way too much about plants, is still a win for the romance enthusiasts.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2023

It's a remarkable feat to watch a screenplay suck all the potential chemistry out of two beautiful people. Because that's all that's left in this blindingly stupid wannabe action comedy asking us to root for these sad souls & their relationship struggles.

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/4 | Jun 22, 2023

Ghosted is not a movie anyone would pay to see in a theater, conveniently, it’s streaming at home, where the stakes for mediocrity are much lower.

Full Review | Jun 3, 2023

Part of me feels like I should celebrate non-IP attempts at mature actioners--but the rest of me feels like I'd rather be watching something that doesn't suck. It's the eternal struggle.

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4 | May 24, 2023

Evans and de Armas are very appealing performers, and the action isn't bad, but this is a mostly witless action romcom.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | May 19, 2023

Big-budget, glossy, empty and soulless.

Full Review | May 17, 2023

A madcap adventure that sucked.

Ghosted never tries to be too serious and instead leans into the jokes, which allows the movie to have an equal balance of action and comedy.

Full Review | May 16, 2023

Written by a team of four men with action-adventure credits, thwarting evil dudes becomes more of a sprawling and chaotic contrived spectacle. However, high-concept rom-coms are all about the chemistry and less about intrigue.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | May 14, 2023

On screen chemistry is a funny thing. It is either there or it isn't. De Armas and Evans don't have it.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | May 9, 2023

It just isn’t as fun, as consistently entertaining, as it should be given all it has going for it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 5, 2023

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Directed by Dexter Fletcher

Finding that special someone can be a real adventure.

Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie — but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.

Chris Evans Ana de Armas Adrien Brody Mike Moh Amy Sedaris Tate Donovan Tim Blake Nelson Marwan Kenzari Anna Deavere Smith Lizze Broadway Mustafa Shakir Tiya Sircar Steve Park Burn Gorman Anthony Mackie John Cho Sebastian Stan Ryan Reynolds Humza Shabazz Israel Vaughan Victoria Garcia-Kelleher Jordan Blair Mangold Brown Zane Shaw Stephanie Weis Dexter Fletcher Keiko Bell

Director Director

Dexter Fletcher

Producers Producers

Chris Evans David Ellison Dana Goldberg Don Granger Jules Daly Rhett Reese Paul Wernick

Writers Writers

Paul Wernick Rhett Reese Chris McKenna Erik Sommers

Casting Casting

Mindy Marin

Editors Editors

Chris Lebenzon Jim May Josh Schaeffer

Cinematography Cinematography

Salvatore Totino

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Nick Satriano Megan Schmidt

Additional Directing Add. Directing

Garrett Warren

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Ana de Armas Brian Bell Donald J. Lee Jr.

Production Design Production Design

Claude Paré

Art Direction Art Direction

Ryan Grossheim May Mitchell Drew Monahan John Snow Ashley Fidalgo Fogleman John Moredock

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Kathy Lucas Andrew Layton James Maloof Taura C.C. Rivera Amanda Lynn Robinson Monika van Schellenbeck

Stunts Stunts

Alec Back Stanton Barrett Kevin Chase Alvin Chon Tom Cohan Kurt D. Lott Tara Macken Lydia Hand Regis Harrington Alice Ford Felix Betancourt Wally Crowder Adam Hart C.C. Ice Mickey Facchinello Anthony N. T. Ryan Mooney John Nania Rex Reddick Daniel Stevens Eric Stratemeier Adam Rivette Jolene Van Vugt Clay Cullen Garrett Warren Amanda Bradley Keith Jardine

Composer Composer

Lorne Balfe

Sound Sound

Luis Galdames Lee Gilmore Dan Kenyon James Miller Chris Terhune Michael B. Koff Darrin Mann Alyson Dee Moore Ryan A. Sullivan James Peterson

Makeup Makeup

Deborah La Mia Denaver Shelley Illmensee Don Rutherford Haile Werntz Donna Cicatelli-Lewis Deborah Rutherford Jay Wejebe

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Suzanna Boykin Lisa Hazell Merideth Ivy Adruitha Lee Kate Loftis Dora Torres Kristin Wahl

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Philippines.

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• Digital 16+ Apple TV+

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• Digital NC16 Apple TV+

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United Arab Emirates

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'Ghosted' Review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas Charm Their Way Through Conventional Action Comedy

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Modern dating sucks. With the rise of dating apps and technology, it's become increasingly hard for most people to find somebody that they feel that special connection with. Many of us have had those first dates where we felt that everything went perfectly, we thought we met the right one, there seemed to be a spark, the date went on for much longer than you initially had planned for, and you just can't stop talking to your friends and family about just how great it went. Then, a few days go by, and you never hear from your date again. You may send a text or two. Still nothing. You've been ghosted. That's the simple set-up for Dexter Fletcher 's action rom-com Ghosted , which marks the third collaboration between Chris Evans and Ana de Armas after Knives Out and The Gray Man .

There was a time when these kinds of star-powered films were plentiful in Hollywood. You stick two A-list stars together, put them in zany situations and you've typically got yourself a winner. Films like Romancing the Stone , 50 First Dates , and Overboard come to mind. After a while, these films seemed to just vanish out of thin air only to recently have a resurgence with hits like The Lost City and Ticket to Paradise . Ghosted fits right in the wheelhouse of those films. It puts two charismatic stars together and thrusts them into an enjoyable two-hour romp filled with quips, sexiness and some electric chemistry.

When the film introduces us to Cole (Evans), we learn that he is a timid, aspiring writer who has never really lived his life to the fullest. Around the time he graduated from college, he left his dreams behind and went to work on his family's farm. His dating life has been practically non-existent, he claims that he's a romantic at heart, but he definitely can come off as a bit overbearing. While working a stand at the farmers market he meets Sadie (de Armas) and the two almost immediately begin to bicker. After some coaxing by his colleagues who sensed a spark between the two, Cole chases after Sadie and asks her out. The connection is undeniable, and their coffee date turns into an entire day of walking around Washington DC. Flirting turns to kissing, and, eventually, Sadie invites Cole into her bedroom.

RELATED: Adrien Brody on Playing ‘Ghosted’s Big Bad and Vibing With Charlie Day

Cole returns home to his family elated, claiming that he's met the right one for him. Of course, he never hears from Sadie again, and his anxiety gets the best of him as he sends her dozens of overbearing texts. When he realizes that he left his inhaler in Sadie's purse, he uses a GPS tracker to learn that Sadie is in England, and with the support of his parents ( Amy Sedaris , Tate Donovan ), he flies overseas to reconnect with her. Not long into his trip, Cole ends up being kidnapped by terrorists who suspect that he's the notorious arms dealer 'The Taxman,' and he's soon saved by Sadie, who reveals that she's a CIA agent. Sadie reluctantly brings Cole along on a daring mission in order to save the free world from nefarious forces.

Ghosted is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from this kind of setup. It has a cute concept, and it's the kind of four-quadrant action-comedy that has dominated the streaming charts in the last few years. Evans and de Armas' chemistry is irresistibly charming, only getting better as the film moves along. The characters they play are definitely familiar, with Evans' Cole feeling like it was written with Ryan Reynolds in mind and de Armas continuing her venture as a femme fatale after No Time to Die and The Gray Man . As archetypal as they may be, Evans and de Armas are just so likable. They bring such a warm presence to the film that it ultimately helps rescue it from some major pitfalls.

There's also an impressive supporting cast alongside Evans and de Armas as Adrien Brody hams it up as the mustache-twirling villain Leveque. Despite the character being one-dimensional and generic, Brody still manages to dominate every single scene he's in. Marwan Kenzari also shows up as Marco, a former ally of Sadie's, and his back-and-forth with the main stars definitely brings some good laughs. There are also a number of memorable cameos from some recognizable faces that will surely get a reaction from the audience.

Where Ghosted starts to fall apart is in the editing department, particularly in the first act. Even in simple dialogue scenes, the film feels over-edited to the point that it just becomes way too distracting. You don't initially feel the connection between Cole and Sadie on their first date because half the time it doesn't even feel like Evans and de Armas filmed those scenes together. If this was intentional, it was certainly an odd choice. Aesthetically the film also just looks extremely bland and uninspired. Setting aside any moments of obvious CGI, it just doesn't look visually interesting at all, as if the film is relying solely on its attractive cast.

Despite a good sense of humor, the script written by Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick , Chris McKenna , and Erik Sommers is unremarkable. The central romance between Evans and de Armas is sweet, but it also just becomes increasingly repetitive to the point where the audience really starts to feel the two-hour runtime. There's also a boatload of needle drops of what you'd find on the indie soft-rock station that feel like they're there just to be there because, let's be honest, "Uptown Funk" isn't the epitome of cool that we thought it was back in 2015.

Ghosted is far from perfect, but there's still enough enjoyment to be had, especially if you're looking for something light to watch with the family on a Friday night. Evans and de Armas are charming as ever alongside a rock-solid supporting cast. There are enough laughs and fun action scenes to warrant a recommendation, just don't expect much more from it.

Ghosted is available on Apple TV+ on April 21.

• Movie Reviews
• Ghosted (2023)
• Chris Evans

Ghosted Movie

Who's Involved:

Amy Sedaris, Adrien Brody, Chris Evans, Tim Blake Nelson, Ana de Armas, David Ellison, Rhett Reese, Dana Goldberg, Mike Moh, Paul Wernick, Dexter Fletcher, Tate Donovan

Release Date:

Friday, April 21, 2023 Apple TV+

Plot: What's the story about?

Salt-of-the-earth Cole (Evans) falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie (de Armas)—but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.

4.75 / 5 stars ( 4 users)

Poll: Will you see Ghosted?

Who stars in Ghosted: Cast List

Chris Evans

Red One, Push  

Ana de Armas

Ballerina, Knock Knock  

Adrien Brody

Bullet Head, InAPPropriate Comedy  

Killerman, Marvel's Inhumans [TV]  

Amy Sedaris

The Smurfs Musical, Shrek Forever After  

Tim Blake Nelson

Greedy People, Captain America: Brave New World  

Tate Donovan

What Is Life Worth, The Holdovers  

Who's making Ghosted: Crew List

A look at the Ghosted behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Dexter Fletcher last directed Rocketman and Eddie the Eagle . The film's writer Rhett Reese last wrote Deadpool & Wolverine and Spiderhead .

Dexter Fletcher

Screenwriters

Rhett Reese Paul Wernick

Production Company

Skydance Media

Watch Ghosted Trailers & Videos

Official Trailer

Production: what we know about ghosted.

• Described as in the vein of Romancing the Stone, the 1984 adventure movie.

Filming Timeline

• 2022 - December : The film was set to Completed  status.
• 2022 - January : The film was set to Pre-Production  status.
• 2021 - September : The film was set to Development  status.

Ghosted Release Date: When was the film released?

Ghosted was a Apple TV+ release in 2023 on Friday, April 21, 2023 . There were 19 other movies released on the same date, including Guy Ritchie's The Covenant , Evil Dead Rise and Beau is Afraid .

Q&A Asked about Ghosted

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• Fri., Mar. 10, 2023
• added a running time of 116 minutes
• added comedy as a genre
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• added a poster to the photo gallery
• added Tate Donovan as actor to movie credits
• added Tim Blake Nelson as actor to movie credits
• added Amy Sedaris as actor to movie credits
• added Mike Moh as actor to movie credits
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Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Ghosted (2023)

April 22, 2023 by Robert Kojder

Ghosted , 2023.

Directed by Dexter Fletcher. Starring Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Adrien Brody, Mike Moh, Amy Sedaris, Tim Blake Nelson, Tate Donovan, Lizze Broadway, Marwan Kenzari, Anna Deavere Smith, Mustafa Shakir, and Tiya Sircar.

Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie, but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.

One would be hard-pressed to find someone on the planet that hasn’t dealt with some form of ghosting, so Dexter Fletcher’s concept of incorporating that into the romantic comedy action romp Ghosted , about a spy longing for connection underneath her murderous globetrotting missions and a needy, desperate, lonely farmer who thinks he found the right match following a meet cute and one date with solid conversations but no real idea of what she actually does for a living is amusing and ripe for pure chaotic fun. It’s also a win when the magnetic presences of Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are in those lead roles; the characters’ names are Cole and Sadie, but realistically speaking, no one cares.

However, the downfall here comes from a confused and messy script from Chris McKenna, Rhett Reese, Erik Sommers, and Paul Wernick (some might recognize the names Reese and Wernick from Deadpool notoriety, but when it comes down to it, requiring four individuals penning this script probably says more about the movie than I ever could) that, initially seems in on the joke of making spies sociopaths and poking fun at clingy men, eventually transitioning into a story about a sociopath and creep falling for one another that viewers are expected to cheer on. Once again, considering the impossibly beautiful Chris Evans and Ana de Armas getting swept up in this questionable love, casual viewers might not give a shit about the toxic elements.

Bluntly put, Ghosted works best when it’s acknowledging these leads are flawed and make eyebrow-raising choices; he takes a selfie together in bed when she is asleep, all in the name of preserving intimate memories, and she doesn’t blink when an opportunity arises to use him as bait even if it is for saving the world from a generic world-domination doomsday device). There’s a well-constructed bus chase sequence across a Pakistani cliffside where she demonstrates her cold-blooded ability to kill these enemies, where he is shaken when forced to do so.

The training that Ana de Armas has put in for intensely physical roles, such as in No Time to Die and the upcoming John Wick spinoff Ballerina is on display, even if the combat staging never reaches half the heights of those series. Admittedly, there is also a sense of exhilaration throughout most action set pieces (notably a rotating restaurant room, sky high in the air with glass panels for walls), but more in the realm of big-budget spectacle and not so much thrilling fight sequences.

Frustratingly, the script defines these characters in the broadest strokes and isn’t too concerned with directly addressing their flaws in any compelling way. Her sociopathic nature and his prone to creepiness and text-message bombing (I suppose I should mention the reason they are in the situation is that once he gets ghosted, he finds a way to track her down in London for a romantic gesture, under the impression that she is on business dealing with an art client) is more cutesy than anything to these filmmakers, which starts off fun but is more grating and offputting than anything by the conclusion.

Perhaps this would be more forgivable if the villains were interesting, but that aspect of Ghosted mostly boils down to Adrien Brody leading a mercenary group, eccentrically using bugs for torture, hunting down a deadly weapon to sell to the highest bidder. They exist to rope Cole and Sadie into perilous situations provoking more bickering that is fun for a while but is spread thin considering neither character is likable, meaning the actors have to rely on their natural charm, hoping to overcome simplistic writing and lame jokes.

Ghosted briefly comes alive when the filmmakers are leaning into the joke about the ruthless underworld of FBI agents and contract killers. There’s a kidnapping led by a series of amusing cameos (a few of which are also from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) that is inspired and more thoughtful than the central concept of a secret agent ghosting a farmer. The action is there alongside a solid idea, but it is squandered by the laziness of simply trying to coast along by star power casting alone, with no self-awareness that the characters quickly become irritating.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Ghosted review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas’s chemistry must have been lost in the post

A miscast lead and a host of gratuitous celebrity cameos help sink a leaden action romcom, article bookmarked.

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Louise Thomas

There is a lesson Hollywood can learn from Apple TV+’s action romcom Ghosted : if you want to tell a story about a schlub who falls for a spy, don’t cast Captain America as the ordinary one. It’s just asking too much of your audience. You can’t present us with Chris Evans as a guy named Cole Riggan (surely churned out by the “big, tough manly man” name generator) and then argue he’s the polar opposite to Ana de Armas ’ ass-kicking, CIA operative Sadie. When Evans falls, he doesn’t flail his limbs about like us mere mortals. When he has to pose as a legendary agent and break bread with the enemy (Adrien Brody’s Leveque), there’s a smirk on his face that reads as a little too confident, a little too in control. You don’t get the sense this guy even sweats.

Evans spent so many years flexing his muscles and his charisma in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and was so at home in the role of a chivalric superhero, that it’s almost as if he can’t help but slide back into that persona whenever the action kicks in. It’s wholly at odds with the sort of film that director Dexter Fletcher is trying to make – which is not to say that Evans is necessarily the source of the film’s faults. Cole is so sparsely characterised that all he can really do is state his character traits out loud. “I’m a farmer!” “I don’t like wearing suits!” There’s nothing believable about him.

Cole, supposedly, is a guy who’s never left the country (it’s weird how this film treats a lack of international travel as a dating red flag), and who’s habitually too needy and too smothering in his relationships. At a market stall he meets Sadie (De Armas back in No Time to Die and The Gray Man mode, except this time she has a bad wig), whose job necessitates that she discards all long-term commitments and emotional investments. The two of them argue about how often you should water houseplants, though they’re really arguing about how much relationships can thrive without constant attention.

They have a single date and Cole is shocked when his subsequent texts go unanswered (hence the film’s title). He hops on a plane to London to try and track Sadie down, only to get embroiled in her espionage work. And everywhere they go and whoever they meet, it is always remarked upon that Cole and Sadie have simmering sexual chemistry. “You two need to get a room” is said at least five or six times. After a point, it starts to feel like Ghosted is trying to brainwash its audience. There is no chemistry, sexual or otherwise. Evans and De Armas have made for a charismatic pair during Ghosted ’s press tour, but their film doesn’t seem to understand that an “opposites attract” storyline requires passionate disagreement – and not the mildly irritated, “I’d like to speak to your manager” energy that’s drawn out of both actors.

Everything else about Ghosted feels like filler: the gratuitous amount of celebrities called upon for cameos, Brody’s far-too-committed but elegantly dressed villain, and a trio of action scenes soundtracked to arbitrary pop hits. None of it makes a difference. Ghosted already fell at the first hurdle.

Dir: Dexter Fletcher. Starring: Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Mike Moh, Tim Blake Nelson, Marwan Kenzari, Anna Deavere Smith. 12, 116 minutes.

‘Ghosted’ is streaming on Apple TV+

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‘Ghosted’ Review: At Least It’s Shorter Than ‘The Gray Man’

David ehrlich.

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And that’s also why glossy pig slop like Apple TV+’s “Ghosted” will prove more instructive to the history of the streaming era than standouts like “Roma,” “The Lost Daughter,” or “The Power of the Dog.” Consider that a lucky break for a paint-by-numbers action movie that feels like it’s already been half-forgotten by the time it starts playing on your TV. Related Stories ‘Borderlands’ Review: Cate Blanchett Fights Like Hell in Lionsgate’s Tortured Video Game Adaption ‘The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat’ Review: This Full Meal of a Friendship Feast Would Be Better Served as a Series

Lighter on its feet and less agonizing than last summer’s “The Gray Man” (despite sharing two key cast members with the Russo brothers’ $200 million spy-v.-spy slog), “ Ghosted ” nevertheless manages to feel like a model casualty of the recent content wars. Directed by Dexter Fletcher with all the style and fun that he brought to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” this gender-swapped riff on “The Spy Who Dumped Me” was shot like a car commercial, lazily borrows from an obvious litany of actual Hollywood blockbusters, and constantly betrays the fact that it was made without any real financial interest in actually being good.

If anything, “Ghosted” is just happy to evoke the concept of entertainment in the hopes that some pretty faces and a familiar arrangement of flashing lights might be enough to convince the stock market that Apple is investing its money rather than just pissing it into the wind. If we’re lucky, however, “Ghosted” might also represent the final whimper before a mutual retreat.

In this case, that prompt might be something like: “Give me an aggressively basic action-comedy intended for Apple TV+ subscribers who feel like the jokes in ‘Ted Lasso’ are a little too edgy.” Ana de Armas — who would be an exceedingly capable action star if not for her fetishistic attraction to cursed projects — plays Sadie, a CIA super-spy whose grief over a colleague’s recent death has only reinforced her disinterest in having any emotional investments. She aspires to be like a cactus who can thrive with only a bare minimum of affection, but the fact that she buys a begonia (!!) from Chris Evans at a D.C. farmer’s market suggests that Sadie might need some more love than she lets on.

An ultra-charismatic actor who wears his hunky feckless nothing of a character like a straitjacket, Evans plays agriculture nerd Cole Riggan. He’s comically hot and muscular, but he’s also a nerd who loves history (ew) and has a mild case of asthma so this movie paints him as a giant loser who lives in his parents’ guest house and lacks the balls to do anything with his life. It takes every ounce of courage that Cole has to ask Sadie on a date, but he soon gets a taste for sticking his neck out.

Alas, the real surprise is on him: Sadie isn’t the innocuous art geek she appeared to be, and Cole finds himself being targeted by a ruthless French arms dealer (Adrien Brody, why not) who thinks he stole a priceless bio-weapon McGuffin thingy. Sadie’s less interested in saving Cole than she is in saving the world, but there’s enough overlap there for her priorities to grow a little more confused with every ho-hum setpiece.

Is your curiosity piqued by the prospect of Tim Blake Nelson playing a demented Russian torturer who’s obsessed with exotic bugs? Well, don’t get too attached. Are you surprised that this chase scene along Pakistan’s Khyber Pass — or at least along an uncharacteristically convincing recreation of it — is fun and frantic and detailed in a way that might get your hopes up for the film’s more action-driven second hour? Not so fast, here’s 10 minutes of clumsy-ass first-draft banter followed by an aerial escape scene that delivers less excitement than an Instagram Reel (the algorithm has mistakenly concluded that I’m an extreme sports junkie, but I’m just happy that someone thinks I’m cool). Does the movie stumble onto a cameo-driven running joke that seems like it’s building toward an absolutely hilarious payoff? Yep, but don’t worry, it pops the balloon on that so hard that its wasted comic potential ends up seeming like a happy accident.

The movie’s more deliberate choices prove telling. Unironically soundtracking low-intensity, no-imagination fight scenes to songs like “Uptown Funk” and “Lust for Life” betrays a desperate attempt to trigger a Pavlovian response of fun in a film that’s abandoned any hope of producing its own (a semi-decent gag involving a certain Beatles song feels a little less sweaty by comparison). A climactic shootout inside the rotating dining room of Atlanta’s Polaris restaurant throws a neat mechanic into the mix, but Fletcher fails to do anything clever with the location.

If anything, the restaurant serves as a fitting metaphor for an industry that’s furiously spinning in place, and for a film that’s relying on centrifugal force to keep its audience glued to their seats (in lieu of laughter, thrills, or emotional investment). Alas, movies aren’t like cactuses. Like Sadie, they can’t survive on so little attention. And like Sadie, I suspect that the people behind this business model have always known that deep down, and can’t wait for the chance to lose its number.

“Ghosted” will be available to stream on Apple TV+ starting on Friday, April 21.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ghosted’ on Apple TV+, a Soulless Action-Rom-Com With Ana de Armas and Chris Evans

Where to stream:.

• Ghosted (2023)
• Ana De Armas

Sexy Netflix Movies: 9 Steamy Netflix Original Movies

The 14 steamiest movies to stream this valentine’s day 2024, hot and bothered: the 10 steamiest movies on hulu, will there be a ‘john wick 5’ here’s everything we know.

“They” don’t often make movies like Ghosted ( now on Apple TV+ ) anymore: Slick, stylish and expensive action-rom-coms starring disarmingly attractive people who do ludicrous things like bickering over who fibbed about what at the same time they’re forcibly putting bullets and knives into the bodies of legions of faceless bad guys until the bad guys are dead. In this case, the disarmingly attractive people are Ana de Armas and Chris Evans, directed by Dexter Fletcher, famous for helming Elton John biopic Rocketman , and replacing Bryan Singer in the director’s chair for Bohemian Rhapsody . In other words, everyone here knows what they’re doing with a lot of studio cash, which prompts two questions: Are they using that cash wisely, i.e., for the purpose of making a decent movie? And why is this going direct to streaming instead of being theatrically released in mid-July so we can enjoy the air conditioning, since movies like this exist for that very reason? 

GHOSTED : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The scene: A farmer’s market near Washington, D.C. Sadie (de Armas) is a loner who’s single and travels a lot for work and has a cold, empty apartment. Advice from a friend: Try a houseplant. She tries to buy a begonia from Cole (Evans), but once he chats her up and learns she’s gone all the time, he refuses to sell it to her. He’s convinced it’ll die in her care and he can’t in good conscience let that happen. They bicker and argue and he tries to sell her a cactus and she huffs off, and when a fellow vendor points out to Cole that the sexual tension between them was cuckoo-bananas monkeyhouse wackadoo, he runs after her and asks her out. So they go for coffee, and then to the art museum, and then dinner, and then to a nightclub, and then to her place, where they culminate their emotional clicking with some physical clicking. During this Before Sunrise -type whirlwind, we learn that he’s a farmer living in his parents’ guest house, helping them work the land, and she’s an art curator who often up and travels for weeks at a time, at a moment’s notice. Thus, established: Country boy, jetsetting girl. IT’LL NEVER WORK.

Cole goes home and is mercilessly ribbed by his family about how he tends to be clingy with the ladies. But he only texted Sadie three times, and the emoji stuff doesn’t count, he insists. And then he texts some more and some more and some more and she doesn’t reply and it looks like Sadie’s title-of-the-movie-ing him. But! His inhaler is in her purse, and he puts a little digital tracker in it so he won’t lose it. He determines she’s in London, and throws caution to the wind and hops a flight and tracks her down and tells himself he’s being romantic and not a stalker and then all of a sudden three goons surround him and drug him and take him to an underground lair where a sneering weirdo villain played by Tim Blake Nelson intends to torture him with various terrifying insects. Welp. That took a turn. 

And it’ll take another, since Sadie isn’t really an art curator – she’s a spy! See eye ay! And she makes John Wick look like, well, John Wick, because he’s the best. But she’s damn good, martial-artsing mofos, shooting ’em dead, knifing this one, cracking that one’s neck. And in order to escape this movie set teeming with gormless minion bad guys and murder hornets, Cole is gonna have to carry a gun. They blast their way out and this is when Cole realizes they’re in Pakistan, and she’s less interested in keeping him safe than sticking to her mission, which, sigh, demands that she acquire a briefcase containing a deadly chemical weapon that a bad guy, played by Adrien Brody with a ludicrous Russian accent, is trying to sell to an even badder guy, except the case is locked and nobody knows the code. Anyway, when Sadie and Cole aren’t finding themselves in hair-raising action sequences, they’re – no, not doin’ it. They’re bickering and bantering like two people who obviously are in luurve with each other but don’t want to admit it. And sometimes they bicker and banter as the bullets whiz by. And that’s why there’s a running joke that any objective observer of their behavior inevitably recites the line, “You two should get a room.” 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s worth noting that Evans and de Armas previously co-starred in Knives Out and The Gray Man , but that’s where the comparisons to Ghosted end. No, it’s more like sexy-tension shoot-’em-ups a la Knight and Day , Mr. and Mrs. Smith or, if you’re really dredging up the slop, Jennifer Aniston/Gerard Butler suckfest The Bounty Hunter . 

Performance Worth Watching:   

Memorable Dialogue: During one verbal volley, Cole admonishes Sadie, “Don’t use ‘stalker’ as a verb!” Which, as you may have already deduced, is the punchline to a setup in which she uses “stalker” as a verb. Which is just a hack-ass joke in the first place, but it’s fairly representative of this hack-ass script. 

Sex and Skin: Cole and Sadie make giggling lumps under the sheets, but anyone expecting more skin from these incredibly gorgeous people will be disappointed. 

Our Take: Ghosted just plain doesn’t work. It sets up the love story and surrounds it with a Spy Shit plot that we might be able to endure if Evans and de Armas were set up to succeed, which they’re not. Sometimes you can blame “bad chemistry” on the actors, but in this case, the script utterly fails them. It’s either been punched-up to death by its four credited writers, or needs a fifth or sixth to work past all the hacky banter that feels like everyone’s trying too damn hard to be funny instead of actually being funny. Maybe the parody of a focus group from The Simpsons f—ed it up, or the studio meddled with it. Whatever happened, these two highly talented A-listers are trying to dance a samba while the script plays prog rock, so of course it’s going to be clunky and awkward.

Otherwise, the film suffers from dated extravaganzaism: Celeb cameos, DOA running jokes, stupidly elaborate action set pieces, dumb plot twists, etc. Someone will praise it for reversing the usual gender roles by having the actress play the badass killer and the actor – the actor who played Captain freaking America even – but that someone will not have actually watched the movie, and therefore endured its unapologetic cliches, eyerollingly ludicrous action (including a car chase that’s one Nazi away from outright ripping off Raiders of the Lost Ark ) and Brody’s OTT villain, who makes Snidely Whiplash look like Droopy Dog. How creatively bankrupt is this movie? It contrives to strand our bickering lovers on a desert island (yes, groan ), and also seats them across the table for dueling polygraph tests so everybody can cut through the bullshit of their sniping and learn how they really feel about each other (you may groan again). It’s like someone took a New Yorker cartoon and turned it into The Tourist . If its “clever” ideas were any more ancient, they’d be wrapped in linen and buried in an Egyptian tomb. This movie is annoying and loud and definitely needs to get a room, and be locked from the outside with furniture piled against the door, and the key fed to a passing sperm whale.  

Our Call: Waste of talent! SKIP IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Movie Review: Ghosted (2023)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• --> May 2, 2023

I don’t claim to know them in any way, shape or form though, truth be told, I wouldn’t mind if I did. Nonetheless, from what I’ve seen of Chris Evans (“ Avengers: Endgame ”) and Ana de Armas (“ No Time To Die ”) from tabloid news (which admittedly is a terrible source to base an opinion upon) they both appear to be charismatic and good-natured people to be around. You wouldn’t, however, come to that conclusion from watching the cheerless film Ghosted , in which both star and pretend to share unrivaled sexual chemistry.

The Dexter Fletcher (“ Eddie the Eagle ”) directed film starts as many meet-cute romantic comedies do with the leads mistakenly bumping into each, sharing some pointed banter and then spending the night together. In this particular case, Cole (Evans), an unlucky-in-love farmer, flirts with Sadie (de Armas), an art dealer, while selling her a house plant at a farmer’s market. Within 11 seconds their, at first flirty but eventual antagonistic, back and forth becomes forced and uncomfortable to watch. Unfortunately, this ugly repartee is just the tip of the ugliness iceberg . . .

After spending the night together having what seems, from the terribly shot love-scenes, thoroughly unremarkable sex, Sadie ghosts Cole due to his incessant texts begging for another bite of the cherry (I’m not convinced it wasn’t because of the lame sex). Not taking the very obvious hint that even his sister Mattie (Lizze Broadway, “The Inhabitant”) makes abundantly clear to him, Cole inexplicably decides to fly to London to surprise Sadie instead of just licking his wounds and moving onto the next girl to smother. This terrible decision explodes further in Cole’s face when he is mistaken to be the “Taxman,” a formidable secret agent with the codes to unlock some super-duper weapon of mass destruction. Naturally, he is quickly snatched up by the evil forces of Leveque (Adrien Brody, “ InAPPropriate Comedy ”), a criminal arms dealer, who has the neutered weapon in hand and needs said codes to make the weapon whole and close the sale. In a twist everyone (including the blind) should see coming from at least a light-year away, arriving to save Cole from certain torture and death is Sadie who is revealed to be the real formidable secret agent and not — gasp — an art dealer.

This revelation leads to a whole lot more cringe-worthy dialogue between themselves and a host of additional cohorts like field agent Marco (Marwan Kenzari, “ Aladdin ”) who has enjoyed a tryst or two with Sadie, and hard-nosed CIA director Monte Jackson (Mustafa Shakir, “Hide and Seek”). It also leads to a few ill-conceived and obvious green-screened set-pieces. One in which Sadie pilots an jewel-adorned school bus down a narrow cliff-side dirt passage in reverse with trucks armed with mounted machine guns firing upon her is bewilderingly bad. Another, which has Cole and Sadie facing off with Leveque and his henchmen in a rotating restaurant high in the sky is doubly bad. And never, through any of the action — or anywhere else for that matter — does the chemistry between leads get any more non-robotic. In fact, the chemistry Evans and de Armas shared in “ Knives Out ” was multitudes sexier even though they shared little screen time together and were genuine antagonists to one another!

Ghosted ultimately is one of those films pieced together with a paint by number formula, banking on the name recognition and attractiveness of Evans and de Armas to hide its many flaws. Sadly, the laziness and cheapness exuding from the screen consumes all, making one wonder if the movie had been written by an angry AI program rather than a quartet of actual people who have screen-written decent comedy and action films before. And with the writer’s strike now underway, one has to wonder how much worse the next slate of upcoming films is going to be, though to be perfectly honest, it can’t be much worse than this unromantic, unfunny romantic comedy. Scarlett Johansson, you were smart to pass on this and, on an unrelated topic, sue Disney for breach of contract.

Tagged: CIA agent , farmer , London , spy

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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Ghosted (2023) Movie Review – Tacky, uninspired, and a complete waste of time

Tacky, uninspired, and a complete waste of time.

When a film’s review starts off with that title, you know how it is going down. Apple TV+ Ghosted raised expectations when the first looks and trailer dropped in March. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are natural crowd-pullers. Marry that with the in-fashion spy-action-comedy genre and you get a potential blockbuster. Well, Ghosted is hugely underwhelming for that sort of billing and a complete disaster for Apple TV+, who are yet to crack the code when it comes to feature films.

Ghosted is an expensive failed experiment despite using a formulaic approach that has been watchable in the past. The first thirty minutes start off with a rom-com vibe. Evans plays Cole, a needy and emotionally enabled farmer, while Armas plays his exact opposite, Sadie. When she “ghosts” him, Cole decides to track her location and trudges on to London. It is from that point that Ghosted takes the shape of a spy-action thriller. Sadie’s mission is to find a dangerous biochemical weapon called Aztec and figure out how to open it using a secret passcode.

Sadie works for the CIA, as is the case with most of the spies in movies. The agency is brutally maligned in such artistic representations. They seem to pop up everywhere like a weed. But it is perhaps an apt representation after all. Ghosted’s formula is pitting these two together and making them care for each other. Since they do not understand what the other feels, the process comes to fruition at the cost of their falling in love. Ghosted might be the vainest spy movie of the year with glaring plot-holes they do not have answers for.

The writing is so simple and childish, you would have a hard time imagining they were really paid for it. The problem is not just with the dialogue – which is borrowed from the encyclopedia of spy movies – but the sheer unbelievability of how everything materializes. They definitely had to be drunk out of their minds before this script was green-lit in its current shape.

Their approach is simplistic yet cannot coherently trail a line of thought to keep expanding it as the narrative unfolds. They keep going haywire and trying new things – almost as if they are inadequately focused on giving us a comprehensive story that might differ from the norm.

The film goes in several directions looking for validation and reaching out for creative inspiration. You can definitely find bits and pieces from different movies without accurately placing the borrowed conviction. That is how saturated the genre is these days.

Perhaps Ghosted is not to be blamed after all for following the trend. This seems to be a problematic trend across the spectrum and Ghosted quickly loses its bearings once it is clear it does not have a sound narrative foundation.

The storytelling is ruefully disjointed. We have no idea where the Aztec came from or how long the CIA has been tracking it. We have no impression of how Leveque got it or what his real motivations are. How are we to believe that the CIA did not know Leveque had the weapon? With all the resources at their disposal, they aren’t able to figure out the passcode for the case and a simpelton farmer with no prior intelligence experience does?

Also, the CIA decides to send a grand total of three men when they know getting the Aztec is a high-level priority. These are the rough edges that completely dissuade viewers from believing in the story and struggling to make sense of things.

If you do not respect your viewer’s intelligence, you won’t get it back in return. The makers of Ghosted have made that dire mistake. One thing that should have worked in Ghosted’s favour was the presence of Evans and Armas. But for some reason, their chemistry seems off. Perhaps Scarlett Johansson, who was earlier cast to star opposite Evans, would have made for a better female mirror. They looked like an odd pairing on-screen and there’s definitely a hint of lack of clarity and rehearsal in their scenes together.

The repartee, which should have kept the viewer glued, is completely butchered. While Evans is spot-on with his comic timing, Armas seems lost. Her performance in Ghosted will not end up memorable or her desired launch pad for credibility. She looks convincing in the action parts of her role but struggles quite a bit when it comes to the expression of emotions.

Ghosted is a dysfunctional excuse for a spy film and has absolutely no merit. At times, one must be self-critical to progress and improve in the future. Without that gallop of brutal honesty, Apple TV cannot recover from this mistake. It is definitely time for self-introspection about what is going wrong.

Read More: Ghosted Ending Explained

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• Verdict - 4/10 4/10

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Nicolas cage brought johnny blaze to life in 2007's ghost rider, nicolas cage reprised johnny blaze in 2011's ghost rider: spirit of vengeance, ghost rider appeared in the mcu-adjacent series agents of s.h.i.e.l.d., ghost rider has a rich history in marvel animation, when will ghost rider appear in the mcu.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced many major heroes and villains from the Marvel Comics Universe. Of course, there are still some who are notably absent, with these characters lacking solo movies. Given the seeming absence of Ghost Rider within the MCU, many might wonder if the Spirit of Vengeance has any movies at all.

Despite not being a major presence in Marvel Studios' shared universe, Ghost Rider has indeed raised hell in a duo of movies. On top of those, he's also had appearances on TV, both in animated form and in live-action. The latter is his closest connection to the MCU, though sadly for fans, it still isn't quite official.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci: The Ghost Rider is one of Marvel's most popular characters who has yet to appear in the MCU proper, but his introduction is inevitable. While he isn't yet a major character in the MCU, Ghost Rider has appeared in his own film franchise starring Nicolas Cage.

Ghost Rider Fan Art Transforms Oscar Nominee Into Johnny Blaze

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One year before the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the first Iron Man movie, the Spirit of Vengeance rode onto the big screen with 2007's Ghost Rider . Produced by Columbia Pictures (a subsidiary of Spider-Man movie rights owner, Sony ), the movie followed Nicolas Cage as the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider. To this end, it adapted many elements of the character's early comic books, namely his origin story and the devilish deal that he makes to become Ghost Rider. Pitted against the cursed antihero was Blackheart, the wicked son of the demonic Mephisto. The two feud over the contract of San Verganza, with Mephisto being able to rule the Earth if he acquires it. Thankfully, Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider is aided by Carter Slade, his predecessor who hid the contract.

The movie came about as the initial wave of superhero movies in the 2000s was ending, and the genre only regained its footing with the release of Iron Man and The Dark Knight in 2008. Beforehand, many other superhero films had been made to capitalize on the success of the Fox X-Men movies and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films . Few of these came close to that same quality, however, and Ghost Rider was no different. Many found it to be derivative and fairly tame, especially given its edgy aesthetic. The main point of praise involved the visual effects, which were seen as fairly good. The movie also made over $200 million dollars on a budget of half of that, allowing it to be deemed a success. This led to a sequel, which released as the Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting into full swing.

MCU Movie Concept Trailer Imagines Jensen Ackles as Ghost Rider

A concept trailer imagines Jensen Ackles starring in the MCU's Ghost Rider movie.

Four years after the first Ghost Rider movie, a follow-up called Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released by Crystal Sky Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, Image Nation, and Marvel Entertainment. The movie was something of a "soft sequel," and though it didn't directly contradict the events of the first movie, it was a mostly standalone affair. Its story saw Johnny Blaze in Romania, where he came to the aid of a local monk defying the machinations of the villainous Roarke. This foe was a conduit for Mephisto, and the boy that he sought to possess was none other than Danny Ketch, the Ghost Rider from the 1990s comic books. Having been in hiding, Blaze helps the monk in order to finally be rid of the curse of the Ghost Rider.

The movie was made on a budget of merely $57 million USD, eventually grossing almost $150 million. Unfortunately, fans and critics alike saw it as a major downgrade from its predecessor, with the special effects having taken a similar downturn. Despite the movie being somewhat successful at the box office, Nicolas Cage (who reprised his role from the first movie) was publicly finished with the role afterward. This saw a planned sequel canceled, with the rights to the character reverting to Marvel Studios.

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Ghost Rider appeared on the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , with the character being prominent in the show's fourth season. This was the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider (played by Gabriel Luna), who was a new version of the Spirit of Vengeance introduced during Marvel's "All-New, All-Different" era. Those comics saw several major Marvel heroes replaced with new legacy characters, with Robbie Reyes being one of the more well-received. A major difference between him and previous Spirits of Vengeance such as Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch was that, instead of riding a motorcycle, he instead drove a muscle car. His origin saw him and his brother attacked by a local gang and left for dead, but a mysterious individual gave Robbie his powers to become the Spirit of Vengeance. Though it wasn't stated as such on the show itself, this was confirmed to be none other than Johnny Blaze.

Unfortunately, those who might think that this is definitive proof of Ghost Rider in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are somewhat mistaken. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of the many Marvel shows created before the release of WandaVision on Disney+. This was seen as the first true MCU show, as it directly featured characters from and made references to the movies. Likewise, this wasn't a one-way street, as both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels built upon the events of the show. The same was the case with other MCU Disney+ shows, which were more firmly tied to the movies compared to previous Marvel efforts. With the release of Echo , not to mention the events of both Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home , the Marvel Netflix shows are confirmed as MCU canon . That's not the case with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , however.

For that series and others such as Runaways , they're merely "MCU-adjacent" and lack a confirmed place in the official Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. This means that the Robbie Reyes and Johnny Blaze Ghost Riders seen on the small screen aren't officially ever going to be in continuity with the current Multiverse Saga in the MCU. Nevertheless, the multiverse could bring them in, along with the Nicolas Cage version of Ghost Rider from the 2007 and 2011 movies. So far, however, these are the only Ghost Rider films, and the only cinematic appearance of the character in general.

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Apart from his live-action appearances, Ghost Rider has also appeared in the Marvel Animated Universe of the 1990s. This wasn't the Johnny Blaze version, however, but the Danny Ketch incarnation that was being used as Ghost Rider in the comic books of that era. His appearances began in X-Men: The Animated Series , though it was merely a cameo that amounted to nothing. He played a somewhat more pivotal role in the Fantastic Four cartoon , where his Penance Stare was a vital weapon against the might of Galactus. Voiced by Richard Grieco, the 21 Jump Street actor reprised the role in an episode of the Incredible Hulk cartoon.

Another appearance was planned for Spider-Man: The Animated Series , but this fell through due to negotiations with Fox. The Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider made his animated debut in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. , which premiered in 2013. There, he was portrayed as being able to control any vehicle the way that he would his motorcycle. Other abilities included being able to turn the Abomination back into a human with lightning, which doesn't match any of his powers from the comics.

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As the MCU continues to expand, the Ghost Rider's introduction to the franchise seems inevitable. Though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. loosely exists in canon , it is more likely that the MCU will reboot the character when he next appears. Some have speculated that the MCU version of Ghost Rider will team up with other supernatural heroes like Blade and Werewolf by Night as part of the Midnight Sons lineup, marking the first time that the Spirit of Vengeance appears in a live-action crossover with other superheroes. To that end, rumors have been thrown around for years regarding a potential Special Presentation centered around Ghost Rider to set him up for the Midnight Sons but Marvel has yet to confirm such a project. As fans wait for an announcement regarding Ghost Rider's MCU future, several names have been suggested to play the characters, including Norman Reedus, Ryan Gosling, Jensen Ackles, and Charlie Hunnam.

Conversely, Nicolas Cage could return as Ghost Rider in the MCU, reprising his role from the original film franchise. The Multiverse Saga has already included several pre-MCU Marvel heroes who have returned for one last adventure, including Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man variants in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine . Upcoming projects like Avengers: Secret Wars would make the perfect place for Nic Cage to return to his original superhero role. The actor has already proven willing to reprise his old superhero roles, returning as Spider-Man Noir in his upcoming Prime Video series and briefly portraying Superman in The Flash after nearly playing the Man of Steel decades ago. While it would be great to see Cage return to the role, fans will still ultimately want a version of Ghost Rider that is unique to the MCU.

Ghost Rider

When motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze sells his soul to the Devil to save his father's life, he is transformed into the Ghost Rider, the Devil's own bounty hunter, and is sent to hunt down sinners.

Ghosted (I) (2023)

• Parents Guide

Certification

• Sex & Nudity (1)
• Violence & Gore (6)
• Profanity (3)
• Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking (1)
• Frightening & Intense Scenes (1)

Sex & Nudity

• Mild 127 of 224 found this mild Severity? None 47 Mild 127 Moderate 39 Severe 11 We were unable to submit your evaluation. Please try again later.
• At the 18-minute mark, a couple (male & female) have sex. They are both naked, but the scene is edited quickly so you don't see anything. They move around under the sheets and passionately kiss. This scene lasts less than a minute. Music is played over the scene. Edit

Violence & Gore

• Moderate 48 of 78 found this moderate Severity? None 5 Mild 12 Moderate 48 Severe 13 We were unable to submit your evaluation. Please try again later.
• A man who is still alive from a shooting has bullet ants dumped on him by the villain. Probably the most graphic part of the movie. Edit
• Several dozen people are shot to death with automatic weapons fire by the protagonists and it is shown as trivial/comedic. Edit
• A man gets his neck snapped while sitting in a car. Edit
• A man is run over by a car. Brief and non-graphic, played for laughs. Edit
• A decapitation is implied but not clearly shown. Edit
• A man is crushed violently in a machine. The scene cuts away just as it happens so it isn't shown. Edit
• Mild 34 of 70 found this mild Severity? None 12 Mild 34 Moderate 19 Severe 5 We were unable to submit your evaluation. Please try again later.
• 1 use of the f-word 12 uses of sh-t Edit
• A man makes a hand gesture to imply masterbation. His hand has been cut off, and he uses his prosthetic hand to make the gesture saying that "he misses this action". Edit
• GD uses the Lord's name in vain during the steakout scene by the CIA agent. GD in the song at the end. Edit

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

• Mild 38 of 57 found this mild Severity? None 12 Mild 38 Moderate 1 Severe 6 We were unable to submit your evaluation. Please try again later.
• There are multiple mentions of a character getting high, and a main character declines the offer of having an "edible" to get high. Edit

Frightening & Intense Scenes

• Mild 29 of 54 found this mild Severity? None 6 Mild 29 Moderate 17 Severe 2 We were unable to submit your evaluation. Please try again later.
• A man is tortured. He is tied up whilst insects are placed on him. Edit

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