Ghost Rider

Nicolas Cage wangs it up with a not-so-subtle Elvis impersonation as Johnny Blaze, the Marvel comic book hero who transforms into a flaming skeleton bounty hunter for the Devil. Johnny, the motorcycle daredevil son of an ailing stunt biker, makes a Faustian pact with Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) in a failed attempt to save his dad's life. Writer/director Mark Steven Johnson adapts the same formulaic style he used on "Daredevil" to give the ill-paced movie a red licorice texture. Like something out of kid's Hot Wheels fantasy, Johnny tests the indestructibility he gained by selling his soul by staging outrageous stunts like jumping a football field lined with running helicopters. Mephistopheles' bellicose son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) arrives with his crew of demon angel lackeys to claim a contract of lost souls, and Johnny is sent to stop them. Eva Mendes is annoying as Johnny's old flame Roxanne who reappears in his life as a roving television reporter. "Ghost Rider" is strictly for the 13-year-old male set.
Rated PG-13. 110 mins. (C) (Two Stars)