Ghost Rider: Movie & DVD Review (2007)

(Originally published 2007)

The tagline for the new "Ghost Rider" movie promises that "Hell is about to be unleashed!" Actually, that might be an understatement. After seeing the movie, some might question whether it was the apocalypse that was unleashed.

By why split hairs? In this case, the unleashing of hell really means the unveiling of a new big-budget Nicolas Cage movie, which in the wake of the actor's last movie, "The Wicker Man," at least proves he's on familiar ground.

Here, Cage takes the lead as Johnny Blaze, a lean, leather-clad motorcycle daredevil who, as a young man, signed his soul over to the devil (Peter Fonda) in an effort to save his father from terminal cancer. In spite of Johnny's good intentions, doing so proves a disastrous move. Now, as an adult who at night turns into the fiery, motorcycle-riding skeleton Ghost Rider, Johnny is Mephistopheles' go-to man when it comes to ridding the world of those demons trying to wrestle the devil out of power.

The chief demon leading this cause is Mephistopheles' ungrateful son Blackheart (Wes Bentley), who has enlisted several other demons in a quest to bring his old man down. What Blackheart wants is a contract his father signed with the previous ghost rider, which presumably will allow him to consume enough lost souls to make him the most powerful demon of them all. Key to this happening is Johnny's relationship with Caretaker (Sam Elliott), a grave digger whose secret past will surprise few when it's revealed.

Working hard in a romantic subplot are Eva Mendez's breasts--there isn't a shot in the movie in which they don't dominate the screen or detract from her character, a television reporter once in love with Johnny. Mendez is a washout here--one of Hefner's Bunnies could have played the role to similar effect--but at least she doesn't have to drink jellybeans out of martini glasses while listening to music by the Carpenters and watching monkey karate films, as Cage does.

The good news about "Ghost Rider" is that sometimes it's just bad enough to offer dark moments of camp, which gives the movie an occasional lift. As written by the film's director, Mark Steven Johnson ("Daredevil"), the dialogue is particularly atrocious--the man can't write--though the special effects counter in that they are well done.

So, the result is a mix. This isn't a movie you go to hoping for another "Spider-Man," but a movie you go to if you agree there's fun to be had in the occasional cinematic collapse.

Grade: C-