BOTTOM LINE: A wasted opportunity of film; and yet another pitiful adaption of a cool comic book character.

THE GOOD: I didn't know much about the character prior to coming to this film but after watching it even I could tell it wasn't translated well to the screen. That said however, his visual design is first rate - he looks damn cool with the flaming skull. The devil is also wonderfully translated to screen, as are his minions. The concept for the film is quite interesting and imaginative; a man makes a pact with the devil to help him save the life of his father but in the process ends up losing his soul and doing the devil's dirty work. There's also a history of this happening all through time. Very cool concept. The Ghost Rider's ability to determine innocent or guilty people is also a lot of fun. At one point before he transforms in to the Ghost Rider, Nicholas Cage is thrown in to a jail cell with other crims. He transforms, and then proceeds to weed out the guilty from the innocent. Quite an entertaining scene.

THE BAD: It's just not well done, all things being said. Sure the Ghost Rider himself looks cool, some of the action scenes look cool, and the devil is cool but it just doesn't amount to anything. Everything seems arbitrary and forced, performances aren't all that convincing, and the story just doesn't resonate. The film was shot in Melbourne, Australia - and it looks like Melbourne, not Texas (where the story is set!). There's no sense of being taken on a journey When you've got a cool concept but a weak story and weak direction, that's all that remains; a cool concept but a weak film. It's a shame really because they had a good base idea to start from.