Ghost Rider Movie Review - Spolier Alert!

I had high hopes for this movie but boy was I disappointed. I swear Nick Cage is high on something in every movie he's in. Ever since Raising Arizona the only character Cage is capable of portraying is Nick Cage. His "acting" was horrible but then again the dialogue he was given was even worse. They should have went with the guy the potrayed the "younger" Blaze from earlier in the film. That guy was actually pretty good. Eva Mendez is completely wasted in this movie other than to provide some eye candy. She plays the typical damsel in distress but is given such horrible stuff to work with that her performance is wooden and comparable to Hayden Christiansan in Star Wars Episode 2.

The origin of Johnny Blaze was dead on like the comics but then they tried tying in the old 1967 Western Ghost Rider's origin in there as well and one had nothing to do with the other in the comics. Of course if this movie is a financial success Marvel comics has a way of "correcting" this in their books which I expect at some point. At least they got the guy's name right - Carter Slade.

The CGI Ghost Rider looks cheesy in parts especially when he walks and talks. The motorcycle stuff is pretty bad ass though, the high point of the movie. The bad guys are all elemental foes: Ghost Rider represents fire so there is a guy that rides on the wind and a guy that is a water spirit. Blackheart appears in human form here...I would have perfered his demon form from the comics but alas it was probably due to budget that he didn't. Every great once in a while he "goes demon" but rarely so he's not nearly as scary as he is in the comics. He looks like a guy that read too many Anne Rice novels.

Mephisto or Mephistopheles as he's refered to in the movie is the true bad guy. In the guise of the devil, he tricks Blaze into selling his soul and screws him over big time in the process. He cures his dad of cancer but then the elder Blaze dies the next day performing a motorcycle stunt and then reveals later in the film he couldn't let emotional attachment to his dad affect the Rider's "mission". This made me wonder why he never killed or at least attempted to kill Roxanne Simpson (Mendez) as well since its obvious Blaze still loves her when they are reunited, but whatever. Of course by movie's end the Rider turns on him vowing that whenever innocent blood is spilled the Rider will seek vengenance and that he will use his power against Mephistopheles. Of course this whole speech comes off as lame given Cage's delivery and the dialogue.

On the 4 star system, I give it a one and a half, probably the worst comic book movie since Spawn. Maybe Hollywood just can't get characters from hell right or something. I will buy it on DVD just to keep my comic book movie collection complete and because the extras will probably be cooler than the stuff that was presented on screen.