Tripe, but entertaining tripe

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2008)

I came out thinking "Well, don't expect it to make any sense," then I realised that I was talking about a film where the main character's head turns into a burning skull, and he rides a motor cycle up and down the sides of skyscrapers. Expecting it to make sense is possibly a case of unreasonable expectations.
Amiable nonsense. Popcorn movie. It has a sense of fun about it, much of it looks good, and you don't look at your watch wishing it would be over. There are some places where it will make my wife jump when she watches it on TV (she'll be happy to watch it as a quasi-light horror film rather than a super-hero film - it has a kind of Van Helsing vibe to it).
Even from my limited exposure to the comic Ghost Rider, it's clear that Cage is far too old to be playing Johnny Blaze. He's good in the part (albeit I don't think it places huge demands on him), but Johnny's supposed to be a young man, and Cage ain't. Sam Elliott is better than he was in Hulk - still mumbles, still talks through his moustache, still can't understand a word he's saying in the sub-Elvis bass rumblemumble, but at least he doesn't have that lemony squinch plastered all over his face.
The story is idiotic, and I don't know why they even mentioned the hallowed ground thing, it didn't appear to have any plot relevance anywhere.
I went with my son (comic fan) and a friend (civilian). My friend enjoyed it quite a lot, my son and I rated it higher than Daredevil and the first half of Hulk, lower than the second half of Hulk.
I can see why it would annoy someone whose expectations were higher than mine.