This is my first movie for 2007 and I’ve been warming up for this first review with two months worth of pent up film-critiquing. Ghost Rider is one of my many anticipated movies for this year and I know exactly what I want to say about it now that I have finally had the chance to view it…

First off, Mark Steven Johnson is the George Lucas of the superhero genre and he should no longer direct any movie based on Marvel comics properties, or any superhero movie for that matter. The guy just doesn’t know how to write or direct a character-driven, action movie. This is the second time he’s proven his capabilities as a writer-director — the first one being Daredevil.

Although the movie isn’t embarassingly bad, it wasn’t spectacularly good either. One would expect a deeper, more complex story from this movie given that the source material also seemed to have depth and complexity in it. You’d think that a movie that deals with making deals with the devil, fighting demons over the souls of many, and finding redemption and second chances would have some cinematic gravitas to it, but no. Not Ghost Rider. Or should I say "not coming from Mark Steven Johnson."

It seems like Marvel didn’t learn anything from Daredevil, seeing that they saw it fit to give Johnson the reins of another of their comic book properties to direct. I hope Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Kevin Feige and company do better next time, especially since they have a long list of films on their slate.

Anyway, on with the "film" review. Ghost Rider seemed to be just another Daredevil — in so many ways. Same director. Same [or similar] plot outline. Same unsatisfactory aftertaste. And just like Johnson’s previous superhero film, this one leaves you wishing there was more to the story that would engage you and involve you with the characters. Like I mentioned above, this director isn’t quite there yet in terms of directing [and writing] character-driven pieces. I believe a better director would have produced a superior output.

The story was actually quite interesting and very promising. The conflict between Mephistopheles [Peter Fonda], Blackheart [Wes Bentley] and the main man Ghost Rider [Nicolas Cage] was something that could have been played out to the maximum, as it was bursting with character dynamics. This wasn’t used properly in the film. Too bad. It could have deepened the tone of the movie.

The acting wasn’t that good. Except maybe for Sam Elliott who played Johnny Blaze’s predecessor, Carter Slade. Again, credit for this goes to the director. The cast was actually composed of good actors starting with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes who, in the past, have proven their acting mettle. Wes Bentley, I think, was miscast as Blackheart, but he could have performed better under a more seasoned director. But the most daunting misuse of great talent in the film is shown in how Peter Fonda [or his character, or whatever] was handled. It was actually painful watching him in some scenes delivering those atrocious lines horribly. Eeeeew! [Hahaha!]

The visual effects were okay. Nothing spectacular, really. Ho-hum.

I couldn’t say much about the soundtrack and score of the film because the threater I watched the film in had this really ear-busting speaker system that played too loud, distorting some of the sound from the film. I did, however, like the end title song by Spiderbait, a cover of [Ghost] Riders in the Sky.

Overall, it was an okay movie. I hope they do better with the sequel.