A lackluster film with a ridiculous hero

Rating: 5/10 (12 June 2020)

I was never a fan of Ghost Rider in the comic books. The idea of this demonic spirit inhabiting a man, and yet being used for good always puzzled me. This movie tried to give a logical explanation for how the contracts worked, but I never fully understood what made this different from any other deal with the devil (or Mephistopheles, if you prefer.) I also didn't know why the demons were bickering with one another to the point that one created the Ghost Rider in order to hunt down the other. That's not even addressing the fact that, if Mephistopheles had the power to create these Ghost Riders, why did he need them to do his work for him? But let's pretend the nonsense worked. Even forgiving all that, the anti-hero known as Ghost Rider would still bug me because he has a problem that has always annoyed me in superhero movies...no defined weakness. When he's fighting it's hard to tell when or if something is hurting him, and I have no way of knowing if his "life" is in danger. The demons have a similar problem, so all around the fighting loses me because I don't know who's dominating and who's losing aside from their physical body language.
As for the human story that plays alongside the supernatural one, well it's a bit weak. I kind of like the craziness that Nicolas Cage brings to the role, because he is the kind of guy you could see taking insane risks with his life. However, his romance with Eva Mendes falls flat since the two have no chemistry. Also, they don't have a full story arc because the Ghost Rider stuff keeps getting in the way, and they end up resolving it without really addressing the underlying problem in their relationship. I did love what Sam Elliott brought to the film. He is an ideal actor to play the mentor in any movie, and he has a swagger that fits with the backstory we learn about his character. The CGI effects weren't always great, but I feel like they embraced their limitations. They allowed Ghost Rider to be this ridiculous thing exactly as he's depicted in the comics, and his penance stare was a delightfully wacky effect. I will say that I found it a bit tedious that they kept introducing pieces of Ghost Rider's costume from the comics one bit at a time. It almost became laughable how the movie would stop so he could put some spikes on his jacket or throw a chain on his chest. But overall, I think Ghost Rider is an average superhero film, that is perhaps a bit more enjoyable if you laugh at some of its ridiculousness rather than take it as a serious story.