The mid-2000's were a weird time for superhero films. While there were some fantastic franchises being established such as "X-Men" and "Spider-Man", there were so many characters, both popular or lesser-known, being given films from the major studios that mostly tend to fall under the same pile of mediocrity. Ghost Rider is seen as one of the most iconic characters in comics just purely by design alone, so you'd think a film adaptation would lead to an iconic film, right? Well, sort of? Jonny Blaze was in love with Roxanne Simpson as a young adult, but when his father got sick with cancer, he makes a deal with the devil/Mephisto to save his father while allowing him to run away with Roxanne. However, when his father dies in a freak accident, he learns that he's forced to act as the enforcer for Mephisto upon selling his soul, having to leave his girlfriend behind to not rope her into his life. Years later, and Johnny is a successful motorcycle stunt rider who seems to always come out okay. When he reunites with Roxanne, he hopes to salvage the relationship he left behind. This is bad timing as Mephisto needs Johnny to take care of his son, Blackheart, in order to stop him from seeking a contract that holds a thousand corrupt souls that can empower the demon heir. Johnny is now transformed into the Ghost Rider, a flaming skeleton who can only appear at night and has the power of hellfire to send demons back to where they came from. The story works well for being an origin story and offers enough lore and detail to the type of world the characters reside in and despite not adapting any particular story arc, it works as a movie for this character. The tone is where things start to get weird. While the film has some dark elements such as the body count and dealing with demons and Mephisto and such, the tone can bounce around to be over-the-top and sort of silly. Whether it's Nicholas Cage's antics or the bizarre behaviour of the villain, the film can be quite goofy at times, but in a tolerable way. For one, the comedy revolving Cage and Johnny Blaze actually works for fans and Cage's beliefs for his behaviour. And two, it's still a movie about a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle. I don't think the film will have been that grounded because of it. Still, some jokes do kind of work, whether intentionally or not.
Cage as Johnny seems like a strange casting decision as his acting and looks don't really match on paper for the ordinary superhero film. However, it's Cage love of the character that manages to make his performance work in a way. He doesn't act over-the-top all the time and mainly has this tired, chilled, awkward demeanor. Like, if you knew you sold your soul to the devil, you would become a character like this. It also helps that Cage does manage to do some good subtle moments for Johnny. Eva Mendes as Roxanne also does a decent job at playing the love interest who wants to get back together with Johnny, but isn't able to understand why he's shutting her way into his life. Aside from the odd aspects of her character such as the whole Magic 8 ball thing, Mendes works at having an otherwise grounded character and understandable relationship. Wes Bentley as Blackheart is similar in personality to Deacon Frost from "Blade", but instead of being formidable, Bentley is more over-the-top in design and outbursts. Sam Elliot as the Caretaker is the best casting of the film as he works both as a mentor figure and a former Ghost Rider who seeks redemption. The late Peter Fonda as Mephisto is also pretty good as the Prince of Darkness who is tricky with deals and conditions. I love the idea that despite not having too much power on Earth, he has this charisma that shows that he doesn't care and only wants his status quo. Lastly, there's Brett Cullen as Barton Blaze, the father to Johnny who dies by Mephisto's manipulation. Even though he's only in five minutes tops of the film, Cullen does a fantastic job as the father who loves his son, even if they don't have the same ideas of what they want in life. There are some side characters such as Johnny's manager, the police chief or the Fallen Angels that work for Blackheart, but they don't really offer much to the film due to their limited prescence and lack of development. The cast is solid with some good actors and performances, but it does tend to be a bit hammy at times which can divide fans.
Mark Steven Johnson is a director who hasn't had the best luck in the industry as a writer and director. His biggest films were his superhero ventures and even those happened to have mixed results in the box office and critics. However, if you just manage to watch commentaries for either of these films, you can tell that Johnson is very much passionate in his work. His approach for "Ghost Rider" was a homage to the Western genre with the setting, camerawork and motifs. While it can cause some silly ideas such as the isolated biker bar or a man using a lantern, it was at least designed to be like a Western film in concept. The cinematography by Russell Boyd is really good during both action set-pieces or the smaller dramatic moments. You can see some of the Western genre influences with the close-ups and wide landscapes of the desert. The action sequences also have some nice spectacle to them with the camerawork and it both synergize well off one another. The music by Christopher Young is also pretty solid. While I don't particularly like the Western-inspired music due to it being cliched, the gothic themes are awesome to listen to when the film shifts to Ghost Rider. The soundtrack also uses some great rock songs such as "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. The visual effects are decent as well. While some of the green-screen effects and the demon faces can be pretty bad, the look of Ghost Rider and the effects involved in the action sequences are well executed. While there are only three action sequences in the film, they do manage to work in regards to the pacing and position at the film. The birth of Ghost Rider is built up as a slow-paced horror kill in regards to the transformation and the death of one of the Fallen Angels, the police chase sequence offers the biggest spectacle of the film to keep the viewer engaged, and the fight between Johnny and Blackheart works decently as a Western stand-off and horror movie climax. It's not the best action seen in the genre, but it's decent to watch. The only issue that is really going against Johnson's direction is the editing by Richard Francis-Bruce. While some editing decisions such as the cut scenes in the theatrical cut and Johnny's initial transformation needing to be edited to avoid an R rating are acceptable, the editing can be both pointlessly flashy with odd filters and rapid cuts or harmful in cut footage and moments. It's strange as Bruce was nominated for best editing three times in his career, but seems to appear amateur for this film. Regardless of executive meddling or Johnson's vision, the editing as well as some of the awkward effects can make the film appear more bad than it truly is.
"Ghost Rider" is one of the better stand-alone superhero films in the 2000's decade surprisingly. While the tone can be uneven by design, some jokes don't hit the landing, characters such as Johnny, Roxanne and Blackheart can be too goofy at times for certain viewers, some of the visual effects can be rather bad, and the editing by Bruce almost demolishes the good will the film offers, there's plenty to enjoy from the cheesy flick. The story for one works well as a origin story, the tone can add to the viewing experience for select fans, Cage's performance as Johnny is both fun and clever as the actor can offer, there are some great actors tied to some performances such as Elliot, Fonda and Cullen, Boyd's camerawork works well for the film, Young's gothic score is atmospheric as usual for the composer, the soundtrack is generally pretty good with the licensed rock songs, the CGI for Ghost Rider and the action sequences are solid, the action sequences themselves can be cool to watch at times, and Johnson's directing and goal to make a Western-inspired/gothic horror flick manages to pan out if you accept the oddball moments. At the end of the day, your enjoyment of the film comes down to if you can handle the poor editing and random tone of the film. Personally, I don't really mind if comic-book movies are serious or goofy, as long as they can be enjoyable, and "Ghost Rider", like it or not, has some entertainment value to spare.
Verdict: 6.5/10. Above-average superhero flick that is salvaged by passionate filmmaking and Cage's dedication to the character and antics. Here's hoping Johnson gets another shot in his career and the character of Ghost Rider gets an outing everyone can enjoy.
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