Coming from the realm of Marvel Comics and all the superhero movies they seem to be cranking out nowadays, "Ghost Rider" is something I was not expecting. Johnny Blaze, the main character in the story, has sold his soul to the devil in order to save his father's life, only to be betrayed. The story then progresses to roughly twenty years into the future, where our protagonist, Nicholas Cage, becomes the Ghost Rider, the bounty hunter for the devil.
The story behind Ghost Rider has always been appealing, but there are a few pieces of the film that are left to be desired. While Nicholas Cage does his usual Nicholas Cage performance, there are a few points in the film where a little bit more enthusiasm would have been nice, especially when he is verbally attacking the devil. As for Eva Mendes, the only thing that would have amped up her acting skills would be her not acting. Although every superhero needs a love interest, casting Eva Mendes was not a wise decision. The cleavage shots that are used in the film show just why she was cast, and her jumpy persona did not add to the film.
The story itself has a few holes in it as well. Like most superhero films, it did not particularly follow the real origin of Ghost Rider. In the comic book, we find our hero Johnny Blaze willingly giving his soul to the devil, while in the movie we see him selling his soul almost by accident. We also see him with superhuman strength and, although he's a superhero, at some points it's hard to believe he'd be that strong, almost as if he were invincible. Aside from those things, I would have loved to see the opening scene expanded upon. The movie starts off with an introduction of just what the Ghost Rider does, and how the devil was after a particular "contract." However, the entire scene is explained through a voice-over within the time span of 45 seconds. A real scene would have brought it more to life.
All in all, the cinematagraphy was very well done, aside from a couple instances in which I think the gaffer took over because the cameraman had to take a piss. However, the camera work, as well as the soundtrack, was also done very well, contrasting between light and dark, as well as good versus evil, which can be seen by many shots of religious depictions.
As a whole, the movie was fairly good, with a few minor things that could have been explained or expanded upon had they added an extra half hour to the movie. Running at just a little over a hour and a half, it's shorter than your usual superhero movie. However, aside from the shortcomings, it's not a bad movie for a rental, or to buy, if you're looking to expand upon that ever growing collections of superhero movies.
Final Score: 6.7 out of 10