Review of The Ghost Rider (1935) by Gary S — 25 Feb 2007

How many times have you gone to see a movie and you just really wanted it to be good? Well, sometimes a movie is what it is, and you can?t deny it was just a bad movie. Welcome to the [I]Ghost Rider[/I] experience.

The story goes that when Johnny Blaze was a young carnie motorcycle stunt rider, he sold his soul to Mephistopheles in exchange for his cancer-ridden father?s health. When Mr. Blaze gets his health back, the devil causes the old rider to have a fatal accident on his bike, and Johnny is stuck working for old ?Stopheles forever.

Cut to modern times. Nicolas Cage is Johnny Blaze, and he has used his deal with the devil to become famous for doing insane stunts that should rightfully kill him. To sum up the film?s long beginning, Johnny hooks up with his childhood romance, Roxanne (Eva Mendes), and they want to rekindle their old flame.

Meanwhile, a demon called Blackheart is coming in with his evil gang to do some evil stuff. This is not Devil-Certified Evil, so Mephistopheles wants Blackheart stopped. He taps Blaze and gives him the powers of the Ghost Rider, which means he is bulletproof, has the ability to stare and his head catches on fire. On his fiery motorcycle, Ghost Rider goes off to fight Blackheart and his cronies in what ends up being one very underwhelming fight after another.

Mark Steven Johnson, the guy who gave us the not-so-good [I]Daredevil[/I], and the outstanding [I]Daredevil Director?s Cut[/I], is at the helm of [I]Ghost Rider[/I], and from the very beginning you can?t help but feel that he really wanted to give us a comic book. On one side, we have a fun look, one that never seems real, but more comic book-like, which I appreciated. On the other hand, Ghost Rider, with its cheesy dialogue and strange story-telling, never feels like a movie. Also, I don?t really understand why Johnny Blaze turns into Ghost Rider, and suddenly he only churns out horrible lines and laughs really hard.

Honestly though, the real problem with [I]Ghost Rider[/I], besides its horrible dialogue and story that doesn?t translate well to film, is the fact that the audience never feels any dread. When you watch Spider-Man fight Doc Ock in [I]Spider-Man 2[/I], you have the feeling of ?Oh crap! Spidey is in trouble!? In [I]Ghost Rider[/I], you never feel anything like that. You always know how it is going to end: Evil will be punished, the girl is not going to die and Ghost Rider will ride off into the sunset (and in this movie, he actually does).