International Center for Ethereal Containment and Control

On the surface, Ghost Rider is a cool concept. I mean, a biker that's a flaming skull--the same skull that is on a lot of bikers' belt buckles? How could you go wrong with that?

The thing is, Ghost Rider looks cool, but he's a comic book character, so he needs to be more fleshed out than just an iconic burning skull. That's when things get weird.

I've always been a fan of modern Ghost Rider, but I never knew how wacky his background really is. It involves the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and demons from hell. Surprisingly, the Ghost Rider movie taps into the weirdness and seems to even revel in it.

Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda, the original Easy Rider): in exchange for saving his father from cancer, Blaze's soul is Mephisto's property. Of course, the deal turns sour and Blaze discovers that an interesting quirk of his contract: Since Blaze's soul is spoken for, he's nigh indestructible, a trait that's particularly useful in Blaze's career as a daredevil. Eventually, Mephisto comes calling on his debt, and it's a doozy: Mephisto's son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) is attempting to usurp his father by absorbing a thousand souls. And that's when Blaze discovers he actually bursts into flames, his skin melts off, and he becomes the walking skeleton known as Ghost Rider.

The plot is reminiscent of Blade in that the bad guy is rebelling against his destiny, filled with a grand plan that basically translates to: "I'll do everything the other bad guys do, only ten thousand times bigger!" In Blackheart's case, it's a town that sold its collective souls to the devil in another contract. If Blackheart can collect, it will be enough to help him take over the world. MUAAHAHAHAHAH.

Ahem. Anyway, there are some other characters, like Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendez, who can rock a dress like nobody's business), and a former Ghost Rider himself, Caretaker (Same Elliott). They're mostly window dressing really for Ghost Rider to strut his stuff. Ghost Rider (actually a demon bound to Johnny's soul, but why quibble) is a CGI marvel of chains, flames, and a demonic motorcycle that defies physics. The Four Horsemen have been replaced with three elemental demons (Gressil, Wallow, and Abigor) instead, who are really just special effects rather than actual characters.

What's interesting about Ghost Rider is that the film takes a leather-wearing bike-riding demon to its logical conclusion, complete with SWAT teams and a shootout in the middle of the city. Then it shifts to a supernatural battle with the demon family, interspersed with Johnny Blaze's comedic struggles with his nightlife. Occasionally, Ghost Rider does that thing that drove me crazy about the Spawn movie - random shots that suddenly appear in the middle of the film, disrupting the flow, just to show a cool shot. In this case, it's the two Ghost Riders (modern and western) riding side-by-side to Ghost Riders in the Sky. Fortunately, it's cool enough to watch that I forgave the director (Mark Steven Johnson).

Cage handles most of the heavy lifting. Next to cage, Mendez just can't keep up. The rest of the crew are interesting, but it's the special effects that really make the film. Unlike the Hulk, the CGI effects are flawless.

Overall, Ghost Rider was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. If you can get on board with the idea of a demonic biker of vengeance working as a bounty hunter for the devil, you won't be disappointed.

Labels: Ghost Reviews