Every generation has a Ghost Rider, a damned soul who rides the
earth, collecting on the devil’s deals. Back in the Old West, the Ghost Rider
rode a horse--today, he rides a motorcycle with flaming wheels…and I always
wondered how he was able to ride that thing without leaving burning rubber all
over the place, you know? In fact, how was he able to ride his bike at all with
flaming wheels? Did he have special hot wheels made for his bike from a tire
place in hell? Instead of Goodyear tires, were they called Badyear? And then
there’s that flaming skull…. But I digress. As you can guess, out of all the
Marvel superheroes, I always thought the Ghost Rider was the most ridiculous.
Created in the 1970s, he was essentially a weird melding of Evel Knievel and the
Exorcist.
Mark Steven Johnson, the director of Daredevil, bravely tackles this weird hero
in a fun film starring Nicolas Cage as motorcycle daredevil Johnny Blaze (who’s
perfectly named), a motorcycle stunt performer who sells his soul to the devil
(perfectly played by the Easy Rider himself, Peter Fonda) in order to save his
father’s life. But by selling his soul, Johnny inadvertently becomes a hell on
wheels, flaming-skulled dark night avenger. Blaze’s first transformation into
the Ghost Rider is handled with aplomb, and it gleefully captures the joyful
feeling of a superhero discovering his powers for the first time. The devil
wants Johnny to round up Blackheart (Wes Bentley) the estranged son of Old
Scratch who wants to usurp his old man and be the ruler of his very own hell.
The effects, particularly the flame effects on Johnny’s bike--as well as on
Johnny himself--are impressively done. But it’s really the performances, as well
as the smart, witty script, that draw the viewer into the story. Johnson fills
Ghost Rider with a welcome loopy sense of humor that very well suits its
off-kilter hero. A fine example of this is when one of Blackheart’s henchmen
runs over Ghost Rider with a truck, and as the camera pans around the rear of
the vehicle, we see a cheerful "How’s my driving?!" sign hanging in back. Nic
Cage is the perfect choice to play the lead role, thanks to his slick, deadpan
portrayal of a man who’s trying constantly to remain nice and mellow because he
knows he’s possessed by a great evil. To that end, he eats jellybeans and
listens to the Carpenters.
In addition to being easy on the eyes, Eva Mendes is also a fine actress who
comically handles the frustration of being the girlfriend of a demon spawn from
hell with terrific ease. The always-great Sam Elliot is perfect as the former
Ghost Rider, who serves as a mentor to Johnny, and Donal Logue is funny as
Johnny’s friend and chief mechanic. Bentley and his fellow demons are a little
too one-note at times, but this is a minor quibble in a film that’s very
enjoyable to watch. I reviewed the extended version of Ghost Rider, which runs
slightly over two hours and is more satisfying overall than the theatrical
version. The concept may still be silly, but this film has such a grand time of
taking the idea and running with it that you won’t care. Just fire up the Hog
and have a hot time with Ghost Rider.
--SF
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