Too cheesy and too long

Rating: 3/10 (25 February 2007)

I didn't walk into Ghost Rider with a lot of expectations, and I was still disappointed. Nicolas Cage was average at best in the title role, and Eva Mendes used what she was given and did a nice job. Wes Bentley is laughable as the villain of the film. Mark Steven Johnson should never touch another comic book movie. Now let me elaborate why.
Ghost Rider's only good moments are when Johnny Blaze transforms into the devilishly cool Ghost Rider. The special effects and sound are top notch. I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes with Ghost Rider, and the ending.
The script, also penned by Johnson, is horrible. The film is very predictable, the dialog is cheesy and unintelligent, and the characters outside of the title character have no development whatsoever. Nicolas Cage's performance is a confusing one. There's times where Cage seems like he doesn't even want to be Ghost Rider. I'm not talking about the character. Wes Bentley is a good actor, but it's Johnson's direction that fails so drastically that he doesn't notice Bentley delivering the cheesiest performance of all time. He is not believable at all as an all powerful demon that is one of Ghost Rider's archenemies. The film does have nice action and wonderful visual effects, but it has no other strength at all. I really don't want to talk about this movie anymore.