I for one was not impressed with the previews of Ghost Rider, but on the other hand my boyfriend really wanted to see it. I was told by my brother, that it “was pretty good,” so I figured I could endure the film when we rented it.

In Ghost Rider we meet the young Johnny Blaze (Matt Long). A young boy, Johnny works with his Dad as a motorcycle stunt show for a carnival. Johnny is also courting a young lady by the name of Roxanne Simpson (Raquel Alessi), but he soon finds out that she is being forced to move away and they quickly decide to run away.

That same day Johnny finds a letter from his Dads physician that he has cancer, Johnny goes back to his bike and starts working on it for his trip out of town tomorrow. That night, while working on the bike, Johnny is visited by a “devil-like” character who bargains for his sole for which in return he will cure his Fathers cancer. Be fumbled by the strangers promise of a cure for his Dads cancer, Johnny signs the contract with a drop of blood and the deal is sealed with only the promise that he will be “called on” in the future, as his Ghost Rider.

The next day Johnny’s Father is healthy, but he still breaks the news that he is leaving town with Roxanne, before Johnny makes it out of the Carnival area we hear the startling demise of his Father as he has a major accident performing his stunt show. Unsure what to do and disgusted by his deal Johnny drives away after losing his Father and even leaves Roxanne behind.

Years later we meet the aged Johnny (Nicolas Cage). He has grown into a professional stunt driver and incessantly does more and more dangerous jumps and constantly waits for a “sign” so that he may have a second chance in life and possible retrieve his own soul.

That sign comes when Roxanne (Eva Mendes), suddenly shows back up in his life and wants to interview him before one of his stunts. That evening however, Johnny, is “called on” to be the Ghost Rider and is thrown into a massively large assignment to save himself and the world itself.

When I started to watch this film I was instantly stuck by the first portion of the film. To be honest with you, that first section of the film, which introduces us to Johnny and Roxanne as a couple was so incredibly lame that I almost stopped watching the film. However, we pressed forward and ended up watching it in its entirety, only to be shocked with an incredibly lame ending also.

So the beginning and the ending sucked, the middle was at best okay. The overall story line of the film was a bit odd, but at least understandable and a lot less “hokey” in comparison to the beginning and the end.

The special effects in the film where pretty interesting, but at some times scary. My 2 year old was in the room when started watching the film, but after Johnny really got into being the Ghost Rider and dealing with “devil-like” spirit’s the imagery in the film became pretty frightening, or what I would imagine would be frightening to a young child.

The acting in the film was okay, but there really wasn’t a lot of depth to the characters. Johnny certainly seemed worried about his position, but he took to role mighty easily when the time came. Roxanne was frigid toward the grown Johnny when they met back up, but instantly changed her mind about him, so the characters where a bit wishy-washy through out.

Overall I wasn’t expecting a lot out of this film, but the real shocker came when I got even *less* than what I was expecting. This movie should be skipped, whoever came up with this script missed the mark by a long shot…


Recommended:
No