Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"The story goes he'll be normal during the day, but at night, in the presence of evil, the Rider takes over."

2007 PG-13 / Superhero Action Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson Starring: Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes

Tagline

Long ago he made a deal to save someone he loved

Summary Capsule

Stunt cyclist makes a deal with the Devil to save his father. In an unprecedented move, the Devil cheats and turns him into the original "Hell's Angel." Bad stuff happens.

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Amazon.com: DVD

Drew's Rating: I don't get it… where's the invisible ghost who types messages and solves mysteries?
Drew's Review: Do you want to know what went through my head when I first heard about this movie? No? Too bad, pal… this is my review. I thought, "Who on earth decided a Ghost Rider film would be a good idea?" Not because I dislike the character, but because he's always been about 90% image, 10% story. True, nothing's more badass than a guy with a flaming skull riding a motorcycle… but despite an interesting, Faustian origin, Ghost Rider never had many memorable comic tales. Blame constantly shifting writers with different ideas for the character — now he hides his curse as a stage act, now he's a superhero, now he's a spirit of vengeance — or blame 70s culture, but even occasional guest appearances by Jesus (you think I'm kidding?) couldn't give Johnny Blaze a steady, consistent direction, a problem that haunts the character even today.

"It would not be inaccurate to describe it as thirty minutes of cool wrapped in an hour and a half of suck."

But still, okay, I get the appeal — unlike Spidey or the Fantastic Four, nobody knows anything about Ghost Rider except his image, giving the filmmakers freedom to reinvent the story as they saw fit. Hey, it worked for Blade. Unfortunately, in this case that translates into a movie that's genuinely pretty good at the beginning… but then sinks like a stone after Ghost Rider's first transformation. It would not be inaccurate to describe it as thirty minutes of cool wrapped in an hour and a half of suck.

Growing up with his father's stunt riding show, a young Johnny Blaze discovered the same day that his girlfriend Roxanne was moving away and his father was dying. But that night a stranger appeared, offering a solution to at least one problem: he'd cure Barton Blaze's cancer, and all it would cost Johnny is his immortal soul. Taking the deal, the teenager watched with horror the next day as his now healthy father died in a failed stunt instead. After that he carried numbly on with life, becoming a famous cyclist but always knowing his payment would come due someday. Well, that day is now: the Devil's son Blackheart wants to steal a scroll from his father holding the key to a million damned souls, so papa transforms Blaze into the Ghost Rider so he can teach that boy a lesson. Armed with the power to baffle med students and roast marshmallows on his head, Blaze now must juggle demonic bounty hunting with protecting the newly-returned Roxanne. But at least he gets a sweet-ass chopper.

Anyway, since this movie seems to consider itself some kind of quasi-western, I'll review it that way. Pardner.

The Good: Nicolas Cage. As others have said, he'll take even a bad script and leave his own unmistakable mark on the role (in this case, drinking jellybeans from a martini glass), so Blaze ends up being a funny, likeable guy. Eva Mendes does fine, even if most of her dialogue is non-verbal to the tune of "Look, I have breasts! They're big and round! And perky! Did I mention I have breasts?" Speaking of impressive special effects, the bike stunts and transformations into Ghost Rider are mighty cool as well (minus the inexplicable cackling and opera music), with some pretty realistic CGI flame effects. Plus Sam Elliott was an inspired choice for the role of old cowboy the Caretaker, and Peter Fonda gives a nicely subdued, menacing portrayal of Mephistopheles, at least early on.

The Bad: Blackheart and his cronies. I'm so sick of damn trenchcoats in movies… I'm sorry, did you just step out of the Matrix? Blackheart's clearly meant to be the new, edgy punk rock of evil, and it just doesn't work; when will Hollywood learn it's the subtle malevolence we love in villains, not the over-the-top "I'm so eeeeevil, can't you tell, I'm wearing black and I keep talking about doing mean things" approach. You could argue that's intentional, showing Mephistopheles is greater than his son, except then he wouldn't need Ghost Rider. And since Blackheart dominates the movie, that still leaves us SOL. But that absolute worst part of the film? The dialogue. Rule #1 for making movies about comic characters: leave the dialogue behind. Melodrama that works on the printed page just doesn't hold up on screen, and it completely destroys Ghost Rider. I honestly believe this would have been a relatively decent film if I didn't literally wince at every other line in the second half. Yeah, it's that bad.

The Ugly: sweet Lord, the dentistry. Mephistopheles and Blackheart show their freeeeaky teeth about a half-dozen times each (the better to chew the scenery with, my dear), and it's as overdone as everything else in this flick. Note to filmmakers: once is cool, multiple times makes us wonder if you're marketing the movie to orthodontists.

The tragedy is that there IS some good in this movie straining to get out: the beginning is promising and the whole thing's pretty slick looking. But in the end, that's what it is — plenty of style, not much substance. Compare it to the X-Men films — Brian Singer made cosmetic changes to the costumes and continuity of the X-Men mythos to appeal to mainstream audiences, but by doing so reinforced the overall message and feel of the comics. Ghost Rider does the opposite: keeps the general origin and appearance of the character but makes everything else far too busy and overdone, to the detriment of the overall story. He's a bounty hunter for lost souls, but also a fire elemental who fights earth, wind and water, oh, and a modern cowboy to boot? The original comics weren't so great that every element of them needed to be incorporated (trust me), and while the film features a nicely streamlined origin, it derails with almost everything after that.

I advise either leaving after the first half hour or watching with the sound turned off; otherwise, you're heading for a spill, good buddy.

Smokey the Bear's arch-nemesis Take the blue pill. THE BLUE PILL!!! A, er, deleted scene: GR vs. Blackheart

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• Thanks for showing us, um, "your" abs there, Nic. That's either the best CGI in the movie, or he is seriously ripped.
• After Sin City, is it just fashionable for comic characters to steal people's jackets?
• Jumping into a river can't be good for all that leather.
• Lady Luck: And why did he need spikes on his jacket? Me: Just to, I don't know… look more badass? Lady Luck: Yeah, his head's on fire!

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

No.

Unnecessary Background

Ghost Rider was created in 1972 to cash in on two then-popular trends, stunt cycling and Satanism. Professional cyclist Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the Devil to cure his adopted father of cancer, only to watch "Crash" Simpson (what's in a name?) die the next day anyway in a stunt gone wrong. While the purity and (ew) love of his adopted sister Roxanne Simpson saved Blaze's soul, the Devil enacted revenge by bonding him with the demon Zarathos, which every night caused him to manifest a flaming skull for a head and be able to create a motorcycle out of hellfire. (Yeah, it… was the 70s.) Blaze's series lasted until 1983, when he finally rid himself of Zarathos, retired, and married Roxanne. Ghost Rider was revived in the 90s with a new host, Danny Ketch, who would eventually be revealed as Blaze's long-lost brother. (Several popular GR elements, including his chains, spikes, and penance stare, derive from the 90s version.) Ultimately Ketch died and became Hell's ruler, while Blaze currently rides again as the Ghost Rider in the pages of Marvel Comics.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

Nicolas Cage had to have the tattoo of Ghost Rider on his arm covered with makeup so he could play the character in the movie.

Director Mark Steven Johnson previously directed Daredevil. In the comics, Ghost Rider was first envisioned as a Daredevil villain, and Johnny Blaze briefly dated Karen Page, ex- (and future) girlfriend of Matt Murdock, DD's alter ego.

The Caretaker's name is eventually revealed as Carter Slade. In the comics, Carter Slade was one of Marvel's Old West heroes who went by the name "Ghost Rider" — he dressed in a luminescent white costume and rode a white horse named Banshee. In 1972, Marvel decided to use that name for their new motorcycling character, so Slade's name was retroactively changed to "Night Rider." That is, until Marvel learned that Ku Klux Klan members were often called night riders, at which point Slade was finally renamed "Phantom Rider."

Groovy Quotes

Caretaker: Story goes that every generation has one, a damned soul cursed to wander the earth, collecting on the Devil's deals.

Mephistopheles: I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your show. Perhaps you'll ride for me one day.
Johnny: You run a show?
Mephistopheles: Greatest show on earth.

Mack: You should be taking a dirt nap after that ragdoll today.
Johnny: I got lucky.
Mack: I got a huntin' dog named Lucky - he's got one eye and no nuts. "Lucky" don't cover it, J.B. It's like you got an angel lookin' after you.
Johnny: Maybe it's something else.

Mack: I've said it before, I'll say it again - this place could use a woman's touch, J.B.
Johnny: Yeah, so could you.
Mack: Ain't that the truth.

Caretaker: The story goes he'll be normal during the day, but at night, in the presence of evil, the Rider takes over.

Johnny: Thanks for the info. I feel much better now that I know I'm the Devil's bounty hunter.

Roxanne: Jesus!
Blackheart: Not even close.

Soundtrack Review

A nice touch was including "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," an old country western song that supposedly provided the name for Ghost Rider. Beyond that, nothing too memorable except for the Carpenters' tunes.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Daredevil
• The Devil's Advocate
• The Prophecy