Falls Short

Rating: 6/10 (23 June 2007)

I had never heard of Ghost Rider prior to the movie. Since there are so many comic book films coming out these days I figured it couldn't be all that bad. The first half of this movie was rather engaging until Blackheart shows up and points to the rest being a special effects fest. That's usually a sign that the story is going to get weak and it did. Nicolas Cage (Johnny) was reasonably cast for the role of Ghost Rider. That's a guy who makes a deal with Mephistopheles (the Devil's right hand in some myths) to save his dad but the deal turns out to be sour. Now he's forced to work for Mephy and his main task is to kill Blackheart, who happens to be Mephy's son. Eva Mendes - usually playing the role of a tough girl - is oddly cast as Johnny's love interest whose only role in the film seems to be to kiss him and show us her ample bosom at every (yes, every) opportunity.
Donal Logue (of Grounded for Life fame) plays Johnny's buddy but his character is poorly developed, like most in the film with the exception of Johnny's, of course. In Ghost Rider mode, "bonehead" Johnny looks a little bit too CG. So do some of the other evil spirits who have sharp teeth appearing on the face every now and then for some reason. Like Venom in Spider-man 3, are repeated showings of teeth (coupled with a high-pitched, fast, shrieking sound) supposed to scare us? It would seem the movie was simply not aiming for a slightly mature audience. Overall, it's generally entertaining but has little depth and falls short of full movie-going satisfaction.