Ghost Rider (2007) Movie Information:

Ghost Rider (2007) Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson Ghost Rider (2007) Written by: Mark Steven Johnson Ghost Rider (2007) Cast: Nicolas Cage, Wes Bentley, Eva Mendes, Matt Long, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda, Donal Logue, Mathew Wilkinson, Daniel Frederiksen

Ghost Rider (2007) U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures Ghost Rider (2007) U.K. Distributor: Sony Pictures

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Ghost Rider (2007) Synopsis:

In order to save his dying father, young stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze sells his soul to Mephistopheles and sadly parts from the pure-hearted Roxanne Simpson, the love of his life. Years later, Johnny's path crosses again with Roxanne, now a gogetting reporter, and also with Mephistopheles, who offers to release Johnny's soul if Johnny becomes the fabled, fiery Ghost Rider, a supernatural agent of vengeance and justice. Mephistopheles charges Johnny with defeating the despicable Blackheart, Mephistopheles's nemesis and son, who plans to displace his father and create a new hell even more terrible than the old one.

Ghost Rider (2007) Movie Review:

“My head is burning up,” exclaims Nicolas Cage as he stumbles out into the sunlight.

In the new feature film “Ghost Rider”, Cage stars as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who harbors a very dangerous curse. I guess when he was just a boy, Blaze sold his soul to Mephisto (Peter Fonda) in exchange for curing the cancer of his quickly fading father. Now many years later, Mephisto has come to collect and Blaze must track down four rogue demons before they unleash hell on earth. At night as part of his curse, Blaze becomes a leather-clad “flaming” skeleton biker whose powers will aid him on his journey. If he succeeds, Blaze will be freed of his curse.

The film was written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, whose biggest claim to fame was the superhero film “Daredevil”. Johnson also wrote the pseudo-sequel “Elektra”. Johnson won some people back with when he released his director’s version of “Daredevil” which shifted the focus of the film and revealed his true intentions for the film. But with “Ghost Rider”, I am starting to see where Johnson’s biggest fault is. When he writes these scripts he never gets the character’s true motives to why they are a hero and why they do the things they do. There are a lot of similarities between “Ghost Rider” and “Daredevil” at least in their cinematic versions. The whole father-and-son dynamic as the springboard motivation to becoming a hero. Come on, Mark, not every hero is “Batman”.

Another similarity is that when Johnson wrote “Elektra” he created a series of super-villains as sort of trials for Elektra. And once more he does the same thing with “Ghost Rider”. When you create a superhero film it is hard to make one on a character who doesn’t have any real great villains. Villains should complement the hero and have a purpose as well as almost be an extension of why the hero is who he is. That is comic book 101.

The best thing that Johnson did with “Ghost Rider” was that he didn’t take him or his star very serious. He hammed up portions of the dialogue and allowed there to be more of an invitation into who the hero is. It works well in certain portions but fizzles in some key scenes. The over-the-top performances from Nicolas Cage and the special effects team make this film a good “popcorn” movie. I also liked Sam Elliot’s mentor to Cage’s rookie. That was a great fit.

The weakest problems with the film were with the demon solo scenes, Fonda’s performance as Mephisto and the belief that a motorcycle stuntman can attract as many fans as NASCAR.

The introduction scene to Wes Bentley’s villain Blackheart at the biker bar was chilling and a great setup but after that scene I never liked the character again. The character became almost like a vampire cliché except way worse. We needed more.

“Ghost Rider” is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. But it isn’t necessarily the worst comic book movie I have ever seen either. I am not sure if that is a recommendation maybe just barely. “Ghost Rider” was always a popular “B-rate” character and it does make sense that he would make for a “B-rate” movie.

So Says the Soothsayer.

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Ghost Rider (2007) review written by: Dean Kish