Marvel. Nicolas Cage. Motorcycles. All unrelated, until 2007, when director Mark Steven Johnson slapped them all together to create “Ghost Rider,” a pre-MCU film that went up in flames just after the second film. “Ghost Rider” is a peculiar movie to say the least, one where an immense amount of passion went into it, only to be unappreciated by audiences and critics alike due to its many shortcomings.
Does this make “Ghost Rider” an underappreciated gem? A reliquary of film genius that only now shines under the light it so desperately deserves? No, not at all, but a film doesn’t need to be perfect, or even good for that matter, to still be an enjoyable experience.
Plot summary (SPOILERS AHEAD)
Eons ago, in the ancient days of the wild west, the devil Mephisto sent his henchman for a contract worth a thousand souls, only for said henchman to stride atop his horse and ride away with it, preventing the devil from bringing hell on earth.
This doesn’t deter Mephisto of course, and in 1986 he encounters Johnny Blaze, an underage stuntman with the power of being a rebellious teenager. Blaze’s father had been recently diagnosed with cancer, leaving Blaze desperate for a way to save his father.
Sensing an opportunity, Mephisto offers Blaze a deal: a cure for cancer, in exchange for Blaze’s soul. Being a good son, Blaze takes the deal; and being a good devil, Mephisto murders Blaze’s father by having him die in an accident. Devastated by the loss, Blaze runs away from his girlfriend and makes a ton of money as a stuntman.
In the present day of 2007, Johnny Blaze is an icon of living life dangerously and watching monkeys on television. Just as he’s about to go on a date with his ex-girlfriend, Blaze is visited by Mephisto, who compares him to a stock market investment, and lights Blaze’s insides on fire. Mephisto orders Blaze to find Blackheart, Mephisto’s edgy illegitimate son. Blaze initially refuses, but is forced to, because just like a ginger, Johnny has no soul.
When he finds Blackheart, Blaze’s outside becomes just like his inside, and morphs into Ghost Rider, a spirit of vengeance with a really cool motorcycle. After getting hit by a semi-truck, Ghost Rider arrests the truck’s operator for reckless driving and turns him into dust. With his first minion destroyed, Blackheart escapes, and Ghost Rider, bound by his need for vengeance, sears the soul of a mugger with the Penance Stare, an ability that forces the victim to experience the pain they have brought upon others.
After getting stood up and being rejected by a waiter, Blaze’s ex-girlfriend shows up at his house. Blaze, who just had a tutoring session with a gravedigger regarding the bender he had last night, informs his ex that he’s “the devil’s bounty hunter,” providing a suitable explanation, in his eyes, for his indecent behavior.
Naturally this causes Blaze’s ex to fall back in love with him, turning her into leverage for Blackheart. After kidnapping Blaze’s now-not ex, Blackheart demands the contract of a thousand souls from the beginning of the movie and leaves. This of course, triggers the reveal that the gravedigger is actually Carter Slade, and he and Blaze ride off into the night, only for Slade to disappear, and for Johnny to do all the heavy lifting.
Being a good skeleton man, Blaze hands the contract over to Blackheart, who eats everyone on the contract and becomes a super demon. Blaze, armed with the power of a lever action shotgun and his burning outsides, kills Blackheart and tells Mephisto that he’s going to be Ghost Rider forever, so no one else has to.
Does it still hold up?
“Ghost Rider” is by no means a perfect movie, with many facets of the film potentially being problematic to a modern audience, such as Johnny Blaze’s unwanted advances towards his ex-girlfriend. If presented under the lens of a modern audience, it is all too likely that “Ghost Rider” would have never been produced, and it almost didn’t, as the film was in limbo from the early 90s all the way to 2004 due to production and casting issues.
Despite its flaws, “Ghost Rider” can still be a highly entertaining movie, even if that entertainment comes from laughing at the film’s nature or any of its other aspects. While the movie doesn’t hold up by modern standards or even the standards of its time, that does not mean that it is devoid of merit or enjoyment, nor can it not be appreciated by those who find the film enjoyable.
