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Rating:  -
It's a great adaptation including key story lines from the comics. Fans of the Ghost Rider will be proud, and newcomers will become fans!
Rating:  -
Not really a 'good' movie... this will never win an Academy Award for anything, but it's a FUN movie, especially for fans of the superhero genre.
Rating: -
This movie is a cross between "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "Faust" with a dash of "Spiderman" thrown in.
Unfortunately, the movie takes itself too seriously. I found myself laughing at scenes that were not meant to be funny.
Rating:  -
Rarely does a movie based on a comic stay true to the original concepts of its graphic cousin. Surprisingly, little has been changed from the original Ghost Rider tome, which makes this film an even larger disappointment.
Nick Cage, as usual, adds a bit of his own jokiness to the role including a dash of that overdone Elvis impression of his. There are a few rare moments in the portrayal of Johnny Blaze that makes the audience feel for his predicament. Unfortunately for Cage, those moments are acted out by the younger Blaze played by Matt Long.
Eva Mendes is the breast-tacular Roxanne Simpson, Blaze's lost childhood love turned journalist. (This script left out the part about Roxanne being Johnny's stepsister and maybe that was for the best - eeew!) Mendes as a journalist is about as believable as Madonna playing the Holy Mother Mary - no offence to the Pop Queen, but it just isn't happening. When will Holly-would learn that the pretty face also has to have some acting talent to back it up?
The movie falls all over itself, first taking the material very seriously and then almost poking fun at the script. One cannot tell if this is a comedy or a serious drama. Do I laugh at the dim-witted jokes? It was confusing to say the least. Scenes are completely disjointed throughout the movie making the pace irregular and leaving one with the sense that the cutting room floor is littered with pieces of what could have been an awesome film.
There was a great deal of wasted scenes and buildup, particularly where the romance in the film was concerned. Most would agree that they bought a ticket to see Ghost Rider combing the streets for the souls of the damned not trying to make kissy face. After wading half way through the movie's starry-eyed mire, The Rider's transformation was somewhat disappointing with Cage screaming and walking around like Frankenstein. Don't expect any witty dialogue from Ghost Rider once he has changed either. Its all lame one liners and worn out clichés from our flaming cranium hero.
There was a somewhat interesting handling of The Rider on his bike of hell fire. It was fascinating how the bike tore up the roadway beneath it, but, would it have? Hell fire after all is a supernatural fire, only acting like real fire when The Rider chooses. One supposes that Ghost Rider had a penchant for causing collateral damage as he flew through the city streets blowing up cars and causing general mayhem. Naturally, there were a few great shots of cars flying through empty stores. But why? Why waste all that man-power and money on showing cars blowing up when it should have been spent on CGI and better costumes.
Which brings us to the bad guys. Why do the bad guys always have to where long leather trench coats? Was there some law passed in Holly-would about villain attire that we are not aware of? Please, for the love of Edith Head, let the bad guys where something besides black leather and paisley velvet, especially when our hero is dressed in a black leather biker outfit!
Just who are the villains? That would be Blackheart and his merry minions, The Hidden, angels cast out of heaven hiding within the elements of earth(Grissel), water (Wallow) and air (Abigor). Blackheart has been reduced to showing up only in human form and his shape shifting abilities are never mentioned or explored. The Hidden could have been very interesting villains but sadly, they were killed off too quickly.
The other heavies are the city police, who happen to find Blaze's license plate at the scene of a crime. Apparently, finding circumstantial evidence at a crime scene can lead to about 10 police cars coming to your doorstep to ask you a few questions. In this town, if you do come "downtown" quietly and answer all their questions in a civilized manner, they then have the right to throw you in jail! Well, that is Texas justice for you.
The music for this film was a tad disappointing as the remix of "Ghostrider" by the Rollins Band should have been added in some fashion - although Henry, being very astute, may not have wanted any of his music associated with this steaming pile of ...well you know.
Get this DVD on sale and only if you just have to have it to complete your ultimate Marvel collection.
Rating:  -
On the surface, Ghost Rider is a cool concept. I mean, a biker that's a flaming skull--the same skull that is on a lot of bikers' belt buckles? How could you go wrong with that?
The thing is, Ghost Rider looks cool, but he's a comic book character, so he needs to be more fleshed out than just an iconic burning skull. That's when things get weird.
I've always been a fan of modern Ghost Rider, but I never knew how wacky his background really is. It involves the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and demons from hell. Surprisingly, the Ghost Rider movie taps into the weirdness and seems to even revel in it.
Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda, the original Easy Rider): in exchange for saving his father from cancer, Blaze's soul is Mephisto's property. Of course, the deal turns sour and Blaze discovers that an interesting quirk of his contract: Since Blaze's soul is spoken for, he's nigh indestructible, a trait that's particularly useful in Blaze's career as a daredevil. Eventually, Mephisto comes calling on his debt, and it's a doozy: Mephisto's son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) is attempting to usurp his father by absorbing a thousand souls. And that's when Blaze discovers he actually bursts into flames, his skin melts off, and he becomes the walking skeleton known as Ghost Rider.
The plot is reminiscent of Blade in that the bad guy is rebelling against his destiny, filled with a grand plan that basically translates to: "I'll do everything the other bad guys do, only ten thousand times bigger!" In Blackheart's case, it's a town that sold its collective souls to the devil in another contract. If Blackheart can collect, it will be enough to help him take over the world. MUAAHAHAHAHAH.
Ahem. Anyway, there are some other characters, like Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendez, who can rock a dress like nobody's business), and a former Ghost Rider himself, Caretaker (Same Elliott). They're mostly window dressing really for Ghost Rider to strut his stuff. Ghost Rider (actually a demon bound to Johnny's soul, but why quibble) is a CGI marvel of chains, flames, and a demonic motorcycle that defies physics. The Four Horsemen have been replaced with three elemental demons (Gressil, Wallow, and Abigor) instead, who are really just special effects rather than actual characters.
What's interesting about Ghost Rider is that the film takes a leather-wearing bike-riding demon to its logical conclusion, complete with SWAT teams and a shootout in the middle of the city. Then it shifts to a supernatural battle with the demon family, interspersed with Johnny Blaze's comedic struggles with his nightlife. Occasionally, Ghost Rider does that thing that drove me crazy about the Spawn movie - random shots that suddenly appear in the middle of the film, disrupting the flow, just to show a cool shot. In this case, it's the two Ghost Riders (modern and western) riding side-by-side to Ghost Riders in the Sky. Fortunately, it's cool enough to watch that I forgave the director (Mark Steven Johnson).
Cage handles most of the heavy lifting. Next to cage, Mendez just can't keep up. The rest of the crew are interesting, but it's the special effects that really make the film. Unlike the Hulk, the CGI effects are flawless.
Overall, Ghost Rider was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. If you can get on board with the idea of a demonic biker of vengeance working as a bounty hunter for the devil, you won't be disappointed.
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