I never read the original comic book this movie is based on. And I never knew anybody who read it either. But of course since Spiderman and X-men made a freighter-load of money, the non-stop barrage of comic book movies is not going to stop any time soon. As comic book characters go, Ghost Rider is more supernatural than superhero. There is a lot of heavy God/Devil/Evil stuff throughout the movie and the main enemy is essentially the anti-christ. But it never gets deep. This is an inch-deep action movie and it knows it. If your looking for some cheap thrills, this will do.
Nicolas Cage kind of sleepwalks through most of this doing his standard Elvis impression he’s used in countless other movies. Every once-in-a-blue moon Cage will take on an interesting role. But more often he’s just going through the paces in a new forgettable thriller or light action flick. And he does so many that I get the impression he doesn’t turn anything down. Everyone does a decent job with their cartoonish characters. But no one is really given much to work with. Wes Bentley goes nuts with his Blackheart/anti-christ character, playing up evil like he’s at a Marilyn Manson concert, all glaring eyes and sarcasm under pale blue skin. But it’s a pretty standard “evil dude”.
Like I said, good for cheap thrills, not much else.
