Movie review: Ghost Rider

It's prime time for Harleys - and Peter Fonda

by John P. Meyer

Up front I'll admit that I've never read the comic books, so I can only comment on Ghost Rider in regard to its movie incarnation - I'll leave the analysis of how fairly it deals with its pen-and-inked source material to those with the background in it.

That said, I can pretty confidently state that this character's cinematic premiere does not mark the start of anything big in the pantheon of comic-oriented movie super-herodom: Spiderman it ain't, and neither is it X-Men; it probably lays its rubber somewhere closer to Daredevil, another lackluster comic-to-film directorial effort by Mark Steven Johnson, who both directed and wrote the screenplay for this one.

I honestly don't know what to make of Nic Cage's recent choice of roles - and by "recent" I mean everything since Leaving Las Vegas (1995). His last starrer, The Wicker Man, seems to demonstrate that he either doesn't read his scripts before signing contracts, or after reading them he exhibits a remarkable lack of discernment regarding whether they'll pan out as successful film translations. The other possibility is that he simply enjoys the hell out of being a top-name male lead actor and selects projects purely on the basis of whether he gets to wear leather pants and ride motorcycles. No telling what roles I'd choose if I were in his position...

Speaking of motorbikes, it's boom times for Harleys in Hollywood at present, what with Ghost Rider burning up the tarmac this weekend (and - I predict - probably not much beyond that) and Wild Hogs tag-teaming onto the circuit the first Friday in March. What better advertisement for all things chopper than Nic Cage, John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and Bill Macy saddling up on four-stroke two-wheelers within two weeks of each other? And if that's not enough, Peter Fonda makes an appearance in both films.

Story-wise, Rider is your typical sold-your-soul-to-the-devil-and-gave-up-the-girl-for-her-own-good-a-long-time-ago-and-now-the-bill -is-coming-due-and-the-girl-coincidentally-reappears morality tale/love story, only in place of the morality tale, substitute CGI special effects; and instead of the love story, substitute the practically emotionless interaction "enjoyed" by Nic Cage and Eva Mendez. The only chemistry occurring between Eva and Nic is when the natural gas burner ring encircling his collar flames on, keeping her at arm's length for most of the film. Thank the Good Lord for small favors (well, maybe not so small - just about right, actually): at least she diligently refuses to fasten the top twelve or so buttons of her blouse.

So we're left with only the action and visuals to hold the whole production together, and at least some entertaining stuff does transpire on screen. Sure, it's predictable comic book stuff, but it's really attractively displayed. The bike-and-body transformation effects are - well - effective, with the daylight Harley chopper transforming by night into a Giger-influenced Cylon bio-scooter from Hell - complete with flames.

And there's a nice sequence (meaningless, but nice) leading into the climactic confrontation between indifferent and evil (good and evil would be a bit of a stretch here), teaming Sam Elliott's horse ridin' Rider with Nic's hog ridin' Rider on a ride (what else?) across the moonlit desert to a ghost town where Nic is to meet up with the evil son of Satan (well, Mephistopheles, actually) named Blackheart. (Good name for an evil dude, I think you'll agree.) Only, their flaming passage burns a defenseless desert lizard to the bone. Poor lizard. At least Ghost Riders in the Sky is playing in the background.

On the down side of the visuals, we're "treated" to several sequences of Nic's character (O.K., I'll say it: Johnny Blaze. Wow, I feel like a kid again! A dumb-ass comic book readin' kid, but, still, a KID!) standing before a mirror, Sleeping Beauty evil queen-like, giving himself pep talks a la Norman Vincent Peale; during one of these sessions, he appears sans shirt, revealing rippling abs he's either spent a lot of time working out to achieve, or a lot of hours in the makeup chair having applied; the jury's out on this one, but in either case there's a great deal of oil involved somewhere. Aargh.

The Sam Elliott character (Caretaker) neatly sums up my feelings about the film in this line of dialogue, intended for our hero, Johnny Blaze, in his Ghost Rider threads: "Unpredictable: that's the best thing you can be right now." Mr. Johnson should have used this as a mantra while he was writing the script.

LOOKS LIKE: In his furry hairpiece (which required three hours to apply on each day of filming), Nic Cage's Johnny Blaze bears a disturbing resemblance to Al Pacino as Scarface.

COLD COMFORT: "I feel much better now that I know I'm the Devil's bounty hunter." - Johnny Blaze to Caretaker, after the latter explains his situation.

EXCEPT WHEN IT ISN'T: "A deal's a deal." - Mephistopheles to Johnny