‘Ghost Rider’ rides between comical, cheesy
Cage portrays Johnny Blaze in big-screen comic book adaptation
By Eric James, contributing writer
Posted on February 19, 2007

Comic book movies are a tricky thing. They walk a fine line between fun, fantasy action and total ridiculousness. Some lend themselves better to cinematic adaptation than others. “Spiderman,” “X-Men” and “Batman” are all examples of high-quality comic books that were successfully adapted into films.  “Judge Dredd,” “Daredevil” and “The Hulk” are examples of comic books that failed to adapt. The latest comic-book-turned-movie, “Ghost Rider,” falls somewhere in between.

Based on the Marvel comic of the same name, “Ghost Rider” is an entertaining, yet unbelievable cheesy movie.  Nicolas Cage (“The Weather Man”), rocking an awesomely bad toupee, stars as Johnny Blaze, motorcycling daredevil.

As a teenager, Johnny and his father, Barton Blaze (played by Brett Cullen, “Gridiron Gang”) have a famous carnival motorcycle show. Johnny unwittingly makes a deal with the devil after he finds out  his father has cancer. The devil, also known as Mephistopheles, (played by Peter Fonda, “The Limey”), cures his father’s cancer, and in return gets Johnny’s soul. Johnny doesn’t know at the time, but giving his soul to the devil means that he will eventually become his bounty hunter and be forced to hunt demons that have escaped from hell to send them back. Barton Blaze gets cured of his cancer but ends up dying in a motorcycling accident the same day. 

A devastated Johnny Blaze splits town to start over, leaving his high-school sweetheart behind in the process. Years later, Blaze is a superstar who has made a career out of cheating death by jumping impossible lengths over football fields and helicopters on his motorcycle. Mephistopheles comes to collect on his debt because a fallen angel named Blackheart (played by Wes Bentley, “American Beauty”) is looking for an ancient contract that contains the evil souls of a deserted ghost town.  If he finds Blackheart and stops him, the devil will return his soul. 

When Blaze becomes this ghost-riding bounty hunter, he morphs into a fiery skeleton with a souped-up bike.  This may sound really bad, but the cheesiest part about it was the transformation of Blaze into the fiery skeleton. Cage’s performance is way over the top, and you can’t help but laugh as he screams maniacally while his head and hands burst into flames. However, when he actually becomes the Ghost Rider, it works really well. Keep in mind that this is a comic-book movie, so viewers must exercise some suspended belief to enjoy it. 

Eva Mendes (“Hitch”) shows up as Roxanne Simpson, Blaze’s abandoned sweetheart, who now works as a reporter. She is covering the media frenzy surrounding the Ghost Rider, and falls in love with Blaze all over again. However, Blackheart kidnaps her to force Blaze to get him the contract. 

This film has definite problems, like Cage’s sporadic Southern accent, but it’s still enjoyable. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes viewers forgive the over-the-top cheesiness of it all.  It knows that it’s mindless fun and it runs with it.  “Ghost Rider” won’t be on the level of “Spider-Man” or “X-Men,” but it works as a cheesy, over-the-top, fun movie.