Years ago Johnny Blaze made a deal with the devil. In order to save someone he loved Blaze would become "The Rider", a being of demonic power who would gather and collect soul debts for the dark lord. But since the terms of his contract were pure, Blaze, unlike all of the Riders before him, was able to resist the devil's commands. Blaze thought he was free of the curse and has went on to live an amazing life, but on one night the devil returns and Blaze will have to finally face what has been inside him for years. The Rider will be released and hell may be coming with him!

The flame-skulled, motorcycle-driving, spirit of vengeance himself, Ghost Rider leaps off the Marvel Comic pages and lands on the big screen in Ghost Rider. But is there any meat on those bones of his? Read on faithful readers.

Right off the bat let me say Ghost Rider has always been one of my favorite comic characters. From the 70's and early 80's Johnny Blaze version to the mid 90's Danny Ketch version, I have always loved Ghost Rider.

And what's not to love about a demon dressed in spikes and leather, wielding a chain as a weapon and launching blasts of hellfire at all he judges guilty, I mean how SWEET is that? I admit going into this movie I was more than a little nervous about how the material and character would be handled, especially since Mark Stephen Johnson, the man behind Daredevil and Elektra, was in the drivers seat of a PG-13 movie. But I gotta say at times my fanboy fancy was tickled with a fiery feather of delight.

I guess for this review I'll have to go with the "What works and what doesn't work" style of review, which I know is a cliché review of this kind of film, or any film made from a book or comic book origin, but hey deal with it.

WHAT WORKS
Nicolas Cage. In the first few minutes of the film Cage is annoying as he plays Blaze as a goofy/cocky stunt driver. But as the film goes on, Cage's comedic moments play very well off of Ghost Rider's more serious tone, it's a major difference from the comic’s character but it's done well and really gives a great separation to the Blaze/Rider characters.

The Hellcycle. Holy shit does this bike kick ass! They went with the 70's chopper looking variant, but when the flames ignite the Hellcycle is a work of art and the blazing trail it leaves on the screen and on the streets (very nice touch by the way) is sweet indeed.

Ghost Rider. He looks great and they did a great job of pulling him off with the special effects. Also they do a really good job in merging aspects of the 70's and 90's character together. All in all, Ghost Rider is very well represented in the film, it was the character that I read in the comics, so what more could you ask for.

Sam Elliot. He's just a cool-ass bastard.

The Penance Stare. In the 90's this was the best of Ghost Riders abilities and my personal favorite of his. He looks into the guilty's eyes and makes them relive the pain they have inflicted on others, only about a hundred times more powerful. When he unleashes the stare the first time, I nearly creamed my fanboy sweats (As most of us fanboys cannot fit into jeans) it was awesome, just fragging awesome!

Fanboy Delights. Ghost Rider also delivers the moments that comic fans want and need in their favorite comic's movie adaptations, this helps to settle the chatroom bitching that occurs later on. Johnson, in his screenplay, puts in some of the Rider's past mythos like his ties to the old west and better than that, gives us great moments of standard comic book dialog and action. Watching the Hellcycle drive up a skyscraper and the Rider himself lassoing a helicopter is top of the line stuff, but where the film blew me away was when Blaze unleashes Ghost Rider in a prison cell and he judges the guilty! I stopped shoveling gobs of buttered popcorn into my mouth and just sat there awestruck, thinking "How cool was that!" And the most geeky moment of all, and one of the cheesiest moments in the film is the ending when Cage looks at the devil and gives the "When ever innocent blood is spilled..." speech, I was in fanboy heaven, amen brothers and sisters.

Now for…WHAT DOESN"T WORK
The Pacing. The film is slow at times and takes a while to get going, but once again this is the origin storyline that is the token jumpstart for any superhero movie.

The Villains. Most of the good stuff takes place when Ghost Rider is dealing with regular humans, the fallen angels and Black Heart really didn't do anything for me. Peter Fonda does play a pretty creepy devil however. But the reason why characters are doing what they are doing in the film is kind of cloudy at times.

Some Effects. Most are good, but a few of the CGI made set sequences are border line terrible, the swamp sequence looks like it came from the Wizard of Oz and many of the demon effects are the same, a creepy smile behind a regular face, a little more variety would have been nice.

The Love Story Subplot. Ghost Rider didn't need this chick flick cliché. This flick should have been balls out testosterone from start to finish and they should have went with the original way Blaze sold his soul, thus completely eliminating the love story.

Cage's Wig. I never bought it the whole movie. You’re bald dude, let it go.

In the end Ghost Rider's positives out ways it's negatives and I was pretty pleased with the results. Let's hope the next film goes a little darker and a little harder with the R rating and drives head long into the darkness that surrounds the character, but until then check this one out for a good time.

7 0f 10

After seeing The Wicker Man, I realize that Nicholas Cage's career is over. He's a bad overactor, of which he's fully aware, and I don't think he'll ever stop. Needless to say, after seing that debacle I was not looking forward to this. Surprisingly, Nick makes the movie work. It's actually goofy enough to be entertaining.

I do like the fact that the characters of Johhny Blaze and Dan Ketch were combined, but I would have liked to see Johhny do more with the Hellfire.

Peter Fonda was great as Mephisto. He came off creepy enough, and it was implied that he could be more menacing than was portrayed.I liked Wes Bentley in American Beauty. In this he did an okay job, but I feel that he came of a little goofy. I also would have liked to see Blackheart's "true" form. The effects were done well and Ghost Rider looked great. I also liked Sam Elliot as the original Ghost Rider.

All in all, this was pretty close to the comic. I do have a problem with the PG-13 rating, since I see Ghost Rider as an R-rated character.

6 out of 10 helicopter jumps