MovieMantz Review: ‘Ghost Rider’

‘Ghost’ On The Machine

by Scott Mantz

“Ghost Rider”
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson

This may not come as a total surprise, but “Ghost Rider” is not a great movie. In fact, it’s not even a good movie. But since we are talking about a campy ’70s comic character whose skull is on fire and who rides a motorcycle that leaves a trail of flame, it’s an okay movie — you know, for what it is.

Unlike other popular comic book heroes from the Marvel universe — like Spider-Man, the X-Men or the Fantastic Four — Ghost Rider is more of a third rate character. And despite the presence of an Oscar-winner like Nicolas Cage, “Ghost Rider” is more of a third-rate movie. The special effects are cheesy, the dialogue is corny and the plot — if you can call it that — doesn’t make much sense.

But it has moments — or at least, enough of them to make it fit the bill as a reasonably entertaining movie. The campy humor begs for it not to be taken too seriously, the action scenes are kind of cool and Cage gives a fierce performance that’s much more committed than a film like this probably deserves.

Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt rider who sells his soul to the devil (Peter Fonda) in an effort to protect his ailing father and his childhood sweetheart (Eva Mendes). But when the devil comes back to collect his due, Blaze is transformed into the Ghost Rider — a hellblazing bounty hunter who must defeat an army of demons, including the devil’s own son (Wes Bentley), before they can create a new kind of hell on earth.

Despite being a die-hard comic book fan who was attached to director Tim Burton’s aborted “Superman” revival 10 years ago, Cage seems like he’s a bit too old for a role like this. But he still infuses Johnny Blaze with some strangely endearing qualities, like eating jellybeans out of a martini glass, listening to the music of the Carpenters and watching TV shows about monkeys (yes, monkeys).

But when he finally turns into the Ghost Rider about 45 minutes in, it’s still hard to determine what the movie is actually about. There are some decent casting choices — such as “Easy Rider” legend Peter Fonda as the devil and Sam Elliott as Cage’s sole confidant. But Eva Mendes is wasted as Cage’s love interest, while “American Beauty” star Wes Bentley struggles with weak dialogue as his archenemy.

Actually, this isn’t the first time screenwriter-director Mark Steven Johnson took a pass at a Marvel superhero — his adaptation of “Daredevil” came out 4 years ago, and it was actually much better than most critics at the time gave it credit for. “Ghost Rider” may not be as good as that earlier film, but given how true it is to the campy tone of its source material, it’s okay — you know, for what it is.

VERDICT: SEE IT!