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Ghost Rider

Without Cage, an infernal flame-out

By TOM MEEK | February 21, 2007

2.0 Stars

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If Nicolas Cage weren’t a goofball with a hunky physique and droll wit, this Marvel-comic-to-big-screen adaptation would have no torque at all. He plays a heralded stunt cyclist (à la Evel Knievel) tricked into a bogus deal with the Devil. Upstaging said Devil (Mr. Easy Rider himself, Peter Fonda) as the baddest guy on screen is Blackheart (Wes Bentley), his son, who wants to invoke the End of Days. That gives Cage’s Johnny Blaze plenty of opportunity to transform into the Rider of the title, a flaming skeleton atop a hell-bent Harley who issues Hulk-like inanities while laying down his wrath with a steel chain turned impromptu whip. Eva Mendes and Sam Elliott fill in as love interest and mentor, respectively, and director Mark Steven Johnson improves on his last outing, Elektra, but without Cage, he’d have little more than an infernal flame-out.

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