Ghost Rider: The Movie

The Ghost Rider movie is a pretty fun time. It is certainly not going to win any awards, but it was entertaining and managed to pull together a story about a character that I have never really been all that interested in.

The story was not the greatest thing I have ever seen, but at least there were no magical gas caps involved. The movie revolves around Johnny Blaze trying to deal with his guilt over his father's death, a death that took place after Johnny sold his soul to the devil to save him. It was the kind of irony which is supposed to be moving, but is really just silly. But the situation is very upsetting for Johnny, who leaves behind his life of as a carney and his one true love.

Johnny sets out on what becomes a blockbuster career of stunt motorcycle driving, which made little sense to me, because who really cares that much about stunt motorcycle driving? But this career is what Johnny has chosen to follow to prove to himself that he is in charge of his destiny, not the Devil.

Of course, this is not the case, as the Devil is always there watching. He calls on Johnny to take up the mantel of Ghost Rider when his son Black Heart escapes Hell and is intent on taking over the Earth. The key to his take over is a contract of the most evil souls ever. Unfortunately for him, the previous Ghost Rider hid it. He has to find it to win.

Johnny now has to deal with his new role as the Ghost Rider, save the world from the Devil's son and win back his long lost teenage love, Roxy. Roxy is played by Eva Mendes and seems to be there for no other reason than to look really pretty. This is a role that she fulfills admirably.

The majority of the movie is full of cool special effects and some pretty weak dialogue. The scene where Ghost Rider rides his bike up the wall looks pretty cool. The dialogue where Johnny meets up with his long lost love his painful. But I found that if I just watched the effects and did my best to ignore the dialogue that I really enjoyed the movie.

If you are expecting this movie to be the best thing you have ever seen you are in trouble. If you are expecting it to be a mindless popcorn movie that has some pretty neat special effects than you are in business. And they left it open for a sequel. Go Ghost Rider 2!