Premise: A young motorcycle stuntman man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for the cure for his beloved father’s cancer. Years go by, and after finally being called upon to fulfill his bargin with the devil, Johnny Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider, the devil’s vigilante. And the devil has plans for his servant. His son, Blackheart, walks the earth looking for an item of great power, and the devil wants him stopped.

This is obviously not a movie that the critics are going to love. Or even like. But for those who get a kick out of cheesy action movies, like special effects, or are comic book geeks, this movie will satisfy. I gave it three stars not because it’s a good movie, but simply to reflect how pleased I was with it, and how entertained I was by it. Marvel movies are hit and miss, but this was definitely a hit in my book. And of course the cast is fantastic: Nicholas Cage as Ghost Rider, Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson, Wes Bently as Blackheart, and last (but certainly not least), Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles.

I am a comic book geek, and I do love Ghost Rider, but I can’t claim to know if the story in the movie is based on any Ghost Rider comic books. The only Ghost Rider comic books I’ve read through are the newer mini series illustrated by the great Clayton Crane. And as a side note, doesn’t ‘Clayton Crane’ sound like the name of some comic book superhero? Good lord. No wonder he became a comic book artist!

The movie was without a doubt cheesy and kinda dumb on more than one occasion (many more in fact) but there were a lot of things that saved it from being a bad movie, first and foremost the fact that it obviously wasn’t taking itself seriously!! The actors are all extremely appealing and charismatic, especially Nicholas Cage. Even Eva Mendes, who usually drives me crazy, was good. Wes Bently was excellent as the son of the devil, Blackheart, and his minions were appropriately gross. ^_^

If you spend too much time on the drawbacks of this movie, you’re taking it much more seriously than it was ever meant to be taken. So enjoy watching the skull-headed flaming biker strike fear into the hearts of evil doers and get the girl in a way that only comic books can deliver.