Ghost Rider: Flaming cyclist of comic book lore lacks soul

Pace picks up in second half of movie, but special effects are less than amazing

By Oscar Bissot
Staff Writer

Ghost Rider is an actionpacked story based on the Marvel comic book of the same name.

Written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil), it stars Nicolas Cage (Face/Off, City of Angels) as Johnny Blaze and Eva Mendez (2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) as Roxanne Simpson, Johnny's love interest.

Johnny Blaze is a stuntman. With his father, he performs all sorts of dangerous maneuvers on his motorcycle. One day he learns that his father is terminally ill. Soon, Mephistopheles, played by Peter Fonda (Easy Rider, Escape from L.A.) approaches Johnny after one of his shows. He makes Johnny an offer: for the price of Johnny's soul, he will save his father's life.

Johnny makes the trade, and Mephistopheles makes him his personal bounty hunter – the Ghost Rider.

Mephistopheles makes a second bargain with Johnny. If he kills Blackheart, played by Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Johnny can recover his soul.

Overall, the movie had an average feel to it. The special effects were less than amazing. Only a few motorcycle scenes seemed better than the effects you've seen in many other films.

Cage plays a decent Johnny Blaze. Fonda, who has far less screen time, is better as Mephistopheles. Most of the film's other characters are uninteresting and poorly acted, especially Bentley's Blackheart , who speaks in a monotone throughout the movie.

Action scenes end prematurely, and Ghost Rider's elimination of his main enemies eventually seems like a bad joke.

The pace picks up in the movie's second half, but the ending is boring and predictable.

If you're an action-film junkie, check out Ghost Rider. But most people will not enjoy it. It offers nothing new. And if you were expecting another Spiderman, think again.

Comic book fans might enjoy this one, but even they might want to wait for the flaming cyclist to make his appearance on DVD.