Entertaining, and that's all I wanted it to be.

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2007)

Ghost Rider tells the story of stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze who sold his soul to the Devil as a teenager to save his dying father. When he's an adult the Devil returns to cash in on the deal, telling Johnny that he will become the Ghost Rider, a spirit of vengeance sent to capture anybody who's escaped from hell. His target: Blackheart, the Devil's son, and three elemental demons, Earth, Wind, and Water, who intend to create hell on Earth. As Blaze struggles to gain control of his powers, his childhood sweetheart Roxanne returns, and he's forced to protect her from the evil forces around him. Though not the best comic book movie ever made, this movie was entertaining just like I wanted it to be.
First off, Ghost Rider was never really a top notch Marvel character to begin with. He has a smaller group of fans than someone like Spider-Man or the Hulk, but it's an interesting story and this movie definitely had the potential to be better than a lot of comic book movies. Unfortunately, it ended up just being a fun action film to watch when you've got nothing to do. The story wasn't bad, and the action was a lot of fun. All the Ghost Rider scenes were cool. The best part was his ride up a skyscraper where he lassos a helicopter and tells the pilot that he's pissing him off. What was good about the film was the action, most of the special effects and some of the comedic moments such as Ghost Rider giving the finger to the cops as he escapes them. Now onto the bad. The villains were weak. Mephisto was alright, but he was off to the side most of the time. Blackheart was an underdeveloped villain that didn't really do much. His three demonic henchmen were even worse. Ghost Rider destroyed all three of them within seconds when there could have been a massive battle there. The climax could have been a tad more action packed too, though it was sufficient. The dialogue at times, was brutal. There was no wit or thought put into any of the one liners. For instance, Ghost Rider says to Blackheart "You're going down!" and Blackheart hastily replies with an age old classic..."I don't think so."
The acting was okay. Nicolas Cage did a pretty good job as Ghost Rider, and Peter Fonda wasn't too bad as the Devil. Sam Elliot was average as the Caretaker. The worst acting in the film came from Wes Bentley and especially Eva Mendes. He acts with one tone of voice and one facial expression, she acts like she's in a high school play and it's her first time.
Overall, I wasn't expecting a Spider-Man 3 or a Batman Begins, but I was expecting a fun movie to see on a Saturday night, and I got it. For entertainment purposes, Ghost Rider delivers.
6.5/10