Cert: 12A Duration: 110 minutes
WRITER & DIRECTOR: Mark Steven Johnson
CAST: Nicolas Cage (Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider), Eva Mendes (Roxanne Simpson), Peter Fonda (Mephistopheles), Sam Elliot (Caretaker/Carter Slade), Brett Cullen (Barton Blaze), Wes Bentley (Blackheart), Donal Logue (Mack), Matt Long (Young Johnny Blaze), Raquel Alessi (Young Roxanne Simpson), Daniel Frederiksen (Wallow), Mathew Wilkinson (Abigor) & Laurence Breuls (Gressil)
Stuntman Johnny Blaze makes a deal with The Devil to save his father's life, resulting in him becoming a supernatural bounty hunter called Ghost Rider...
A few years ago writer-director Mark Steven Johnson gave the world Daredevil, to mixed critical and audience response, although it did lead to a superior Director's Cut and the spin-off movie Elektra for co-star Jennifer Garner. With the multiplexes bloated on Spider-Man, Superman and Batman properties, Johnson apparently wants to specialize in more obscure superheroes, as he chose Ghost Rider as his next project...
Comic-book afficionado Nicolas Cage finally gets to sink his teeth into a superhero movie after circling numerous franchises throughout the 90s (most notably Tim Burton's aborted Superman Lives). Unfortunately for Cage, Ghost Rider is nowhere near as much fun as it could have been, thanks to insipid writing and soulless characters.
Cage plays stuntman Johnny Blaze (with a name like that, accountancy wasn't an option), a seemingly indestructible man who defies vehicular death in arena tours. Of course, Johnny suspects his amazing luck, wealth and stardom is all because he sold his soul to the Devil (Peter Fonda) to save his cancer-ridden father's life.
After the Devil's son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) arrives on Earth with some spectral henchmen in tow, the Devil calls in Johnny's debt and transforms him into Ghost Rider, a demonic biker with a flaming skull, tasked to stop Blackheart acquiring unstoppable power.
So far, so very comic-book -- and that's the problem Ghost Rider faces at every turn. While famous superheroes reinvent themselves (Batman), tap into anxieties (Superman), or push relationships to the forefront (Spider-Man), Ghost Rider just goes through its vaccuous formula.
There's nothing here we haven't seen a hundred times before in far better movies, but while a certain formula is to be expected with comic book adaptations, Ghost Rider fails to capitalize on its one real asset: audience unfamiliarity with the character.
The movie is as stiff as a skeleton. Any potential for freshness is thrown away because the storyline is so formulaic you can mentally tick off the boxes: childhood sweetheart, paternal death, a wise mentor figure, it's all there. Visually, the Ghost Rider himself is the only element that looks fresh: a glorious piece of CGI that makes the potentially silly sight of a flaming skull look realistic and powerful.
Cage struggles bravely with the subpar script, imbuing Johnny with his trademark kookiness (penchant for The Carpenters, love of jelly beans, fan of monkey karate). He's clearly relishing the chance to be a superhero, but not even Cage's oddball tics can extinguish the film's litany of failings.
Eva Mendes is atrocious as Cage's love interest Roxanne Simpson. She's stilted, wooden and unconvincing. She clearly doesn't know how to treat comic book material, looking uncomfortable and lost in every scene. It's actually painful to watch her (supposedly) professional TV reporter in action. She sinks every scene she's in. Terrible casting.
Likewise, Wes Bentley is uninteresting as Blandheart (sorry, Blackheart) with his pale cherubic features and oily hair he's pure rent-a-villain. Bentley brings no air of threat or conviction to the role. Usually it's the baddies who have the most fun in comic book films, but Blackheart is just a limp stereotype. And don't even mention the three goons he hangs around with, who are just walking special effects to be beaten up.
Peter Fonda and Sam Elliot are the only actors who nail their roles. Fonda is a canny piece of casting as the Devil (sorry, Mephistopheles) and not only for the weak Easy Rider link between the movies. It's not a particularly challenging role for the legendary actor, but Fonda's gravitas certainly helps. Sam Elliot also has the charisma to make his expositional role more palatable, blessed with a droopy moustache and that great Southern drawl of his.
The effects are good and occassionally brilliant whenever Ghost Rider's on screen. Cage's first transformation, a police chase around the city and a desert ride are standout moments (no doubt helped by the film's year-long delay), but the rest of the production is quite glib. Perhaps intentionally, there's a grungy B-movie feel in the atmosphere that evokes the pulpy quality of Ghost Rider's 70s comics.
I have no doubt Mark Steven Johnson brought his personal vision to the screen and his commitment is definitely commendable (he gave up his writing fee for the helicopter stunt) but that doesn't stop Ghost Rider from being extremely boring.
You just can't base a movie on a cool character alone, as Spawn found out 10 years ago. Johnson's script creaks, Cage struggles bravely, Mendes is awful, Bentley disappoints, the production design looks cheap and everything fades from memory the second the credits roll.
If you're under-15 and just looking for slick visual effects to pass the time, you might get some enjoyment out of Ghost Rider, but for anyone hoping to see alternative superhero fodder along the lines of The Crow or Darkman... there's not a ghost of a chance.
If you're under-15 and just looking for slick visual effects to pass the time, you might get some enjoyment out of Ghost Rider, but for anyone hoping to see alternative superhero fodder along the lines of The Crow or Darkman... there's not a ghost of a chance.
