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Critics Consensus: Ghost Rider is a sour mix of morose, glum histrionics amidst jokey puns and hammy dialogue.
Critic Consensus: Ghost Rider is a sour mix of morose, glum histrionics amidst jokey puns and hammy dialogue.
All Critics (138) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (101) | DVD (16)
Grand, empty gestures and loads of CGI effects can't cover up pure schlock. Even the character's iconically cool trademarks -- a flaming skull and a fiery chopper -- are reduced to Velveeta slices. No, damn you, sir.
Nic Cage seems comfortable in the role of the flaming-skulled biker, but the plot holes are too deep even for his Herbie-like arachnid motorcycle to negotiate.
Mainly the movie's about riding a bike at the speed of sound while your head is burning. They can do anything these days, which isn't quite the same as saying they should do anything these days.
Not as dreadful as the studio's decision to withhold press screenings until less than 24 hours before opening day would suggest, but not especially good either.
So much flatter than it was on the comic-book page.
Provides just enough pop thrills and slam-bang action to make it perfectly acceptable matinee fare.
This strange amalgamation of Texas Ranger lore, NASCAR bravado, and the-Devil-and-Daniel-Webster trickery keeps the campy fun revving just enough that you can't completely hate it.
Don't worry your little head with the niceties of plot; they don't matter much.
Best lines? "Is this thing ever gonna end?" "Not even close." "I shore wish this thang coulda turned out different."
Ignore the cheesy dialogue, the cardboard cut-out villains and the atrociously OTT acting and just enjoy a good old-fashioned tale of heroes and villains the way the comic-books used to tell 'em.
It all seems so wearyingly old fashioned: teenage delinquents on motorbikes, creaky incarnations of Satan, a rock'n'roll take on dangerous cool.
Cage needs to produce something special next to make up for crimes against cinema.
And here we go into the controversial end of the pool (That seems to be a theme whenever someone brings up Nicolas Cage.) Now I hate Nicolas Cage as of now (Pre 2000s Cage is the only good Cage) and having him cast as a superhero, especially someone like Ghost Rider, is some of the most bizarre casting I've seen in a movie, and yea he doesn't do the best job as the character of Johnny Blaze but he's passable. Most of the acting in the movie overall ranges from cheesy, to straight up stupid (that bit with the Legion quote from the Bible being one.) But the movie at least tries to be entertaining so I'll give it that, and a couple of the actors really aren't that bad in the movie, Sam Elliot doing his usual awesome performance even if not given that much to work with and while not really in the movie that much, Peter Fonda does a decent job as Mephistopheles. Also the action and CG looks just awesome in this movie, and the stuff all involving the Ghost Rider character, while all being usually brief scenes, is just badass, especially all the crap he does with the flaming chain. Overall, while the film may not be that amazingly good, and it does have a few flaws, it is entertaining enough and it does have some amazingly awesome effects and fight scenes. Just don't see the sequel unless you want to self lobotomize yourself.
Super Reviewer
four stars
Someone here thinks there's enough parallels between Elvis' latter day performances as a unitard wearing, kung fu signifying, daredevil cartoon (I recall only utter embarrassment) and a Marvel superhero damned for eternity, to go ahead and make a movie out of it. It actually almost works too. Nick Cage throws in every Presley nuance he can think of except: "thank yah verry verry much!"
Not the worst comic adaption ever but not bad. Decent action film nothing more.
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