(2007) 2 Jeremy Wheeler Many problems lie at the heart of Ghost Rider -- from the writing all the way to the casting, though it's the general blandness of this hour-and-fifty-minute snoozer that ends up being the real kiss of death for audiences. Though eager to shower it with boffo box-office numbers, many audience members will walk out of this movie supremely dissatisfied with the end result. At best, forgiving viewers will rationalize its existence by excusing it as some kind of throwaway "beer and popcorn" movie, though that just reeks of a blind acceptance of this type of big-screen junk. Terribly awful films that end up funny are one thing, but a zero-style paint-by-numbers trip to dullsville is something completely different. Of course, none of this should come as any surprise to anyone who's familiar with director Mark Steven Johnson's previous work on Daredevil, but one would hope that the folks who deal with the system would learn a bit from their mistakes. The good news is that each scene could easily be taken from a comic panel, although there is almost no rhythm to tie it all together in an exciting manner. Emotionally, the movie is devoid of any weight, while the quirky character work just comes off as unnecessary. Nicolas Cage might have waited decades to bring a big comic character to the big screen, but his depiction of Johnny Blaze feels uneven -- never mind inept -- as can be heard with his on-again/off-again Texas drawl. The stereotypical goth villains are also a letdown, with their cheesy black eye makeup and extra-long trench coats eliciting more eye rolls than sincere dread. Only Peter Fonda and Sam Elliott come out of the wreckage with a bit more face than the rest of the cast, though one senses that they could do this stuff in their sleep. CG effects are impressive, aside from the lame demon-face distortions that flash on top of character's faces for no good reason. Much like the first Fantastic Four film, Ghost Rider will stand as a clear miss on the origin tale, prompting many to hope for better treatments of this comic property in the future.

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Ghost Rider on AllMovie

Ghost Rider (2007)

Ghost Rider

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Violence
Adult Situations

genres

Action

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

Mark Steven Johnson

countries

USA

release date

February 16, 2007 (USA)

run time

110 min.

produced by

Canarsie, Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios

released by

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider

by Jason Buchanan synopsis

When a motorcycle-riding stuntman offers his soul to Mephistopheles in order to save the life of the one he loves most, he is forced to play host to a powerful supernatural entity whose flaming skull visage strikes fear into the heart of his enemies in this feature-film version of the long-running comic series. By day, Johnny Blaze (actor and comic-book devotee Nicolas Cage) is one of the world's best-known stuntmen, but when the sun goes down and he is in the presence of evil, the death-defying daredevil bursts into flames to become the indestructible, motorcycle-riding antihero known to the world as the Ghost Rider.

characteristics

- Deal-with-the-devil

- Bike

- Out For Revenge

- Fantastic Reality

- Curses And Spells

- Metamorphosis

- Motorcycling

- Vendetta

- Vengeance

- Vigilante

- Satan

- Revenge

- Diablo

- Retaliation

- Retribution

related movies

CURSES AND SPELLS

METAMORPHOSIS