Ghost RiderMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 35 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 12+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

50

New York Daily News | Jack Mathews
What sticks is a colorful, mesmerizing, at times breathtaking mess - it's like watching a bonfire on acid - and what slides to the floor is, well, you probably don't want to know. Read full review
50

Los Angeles Times |
It's entertaining to watch ol' hothead do his thing with his fiery chain and his "penance stare," but for a comic book with a rebel spirit, the adaptation feels obediently conventional. Read full review
42

Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman
So much flatter than it was on the comic-book page. Read full review
38

Boston Globe | Ty Burr
Ghost Rider is the kind of movie that's great stupid fun as long as someone else is buying the tickets. Read full review
30

Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov
Has all the sugar-injected horsepower of a 6-year-old on a Big Wheel. Read full review
30

The New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis
This dissociation leaves the supporting cast to its own devices, with no one suffering more than the appealing Eva Mendes as Johnny's true love, Roxanne. If Ms. Mendes ever finds a director willing to allow her to perform with her shirts fully buttoned, there will be no stopping her. Read full review
30

The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck
All of [Cages's] natural charisma is unable to compensate for the plodding narrative and thin characterizations. Read full review
25

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
The real evil in this flick isn't Blackheart (Wes Bentley), the devil's son, it's the soul-sucking devil of modern cinema: Hollywood formula. Read full review
25

San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub
Ghost Rider has everything you don't want from your superhero movie, including lack of logic, boring action scenes, bad acting in the supporting performances, a brutally slow 114-minute running time and cringe-worthy dialogue. Read full review
20

Variety | Robert Koehler
Though the superhero's fans have long awaited his close-up, the Devil's bounty hunter -- complete with a burning skull for a head and a killer motorcycle in flames --materializes in a movie that never measures up to his infernal potential. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Ghost Rider on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 12+ Devilish Nic Cage action flick isn't on fire.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this comic book-based movie is aimed right at kids. (They won't care that the CGI effects aren't the best and the story is uneven.) Expect frequent references to the devil and some grisly Renaissance-style images of torture. There are motorcycle crashes (one ends in a father's death), flaming leaps, falls, and skids, which produce broken-looking bodies. The villain turns victims gray and veiny, and Ghost Rider himself becomes a burning skull. Weapons include knives, shotguns, and chains. Roxy shows cleavage, and she and Johnny kiss several times (once quite passionately). Characters drink and smoke cigarettes; language includes "s--t," "damn," "son of a bitch," and "hell."

Families can talk about the relationship between Johnny and his dad. How does Johnny's good intention lead to tragedy? Did Johnny have any other alternatives than working for the devil? How does the movie differentiate between the monstrous Johnny and the monstrous Blackheart? Why is one "good" and one "bad"? Is it that easy to tell the difference between good guys and bad guys in real life? Why are so many action/superhero movies based on comic books? What's the appeal?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Johnny sells his soul to the devil and regrets it; demons wreak havoc; bad guys die; cops are inept.
Positive role models: Johnny did sell his soul to the devil for a noble reason: to save his dad from dying of terminal cancer. But his current murdering vigilante persona is not something to emulate. His TV reporter love interest Roxanne, his childhood sweetheart, is innocent, and they look out for each other. The Carertaker acts as a protective mentor to Johnny.

What to watch for

Violence: Constant cartoonish violence, mayhem, and stunts. Johnny's father dies in a motorcycle stunt; Johnny falls off his motorcycle; the devil torments him with a "burning finger" one motorcycle jump results in a brutal crash; Blackheart kills several humans by turning their faces gray and crumbly; fights between Blackheart's gang and Johnny feature violent falls, throws against walls, and slams; as the Ghost Rider, Johnny is frequently on fire (his skull face is creepy); Ghost Rider attacks and kills a mugger, who stabs him with a knife (Caretaker stitches the wound in close-up); policemen shoot repeatedly at Ghost Rider, who absorbs bullets and rides away; Ghost Rider uses a chain to whip, capture, and throw victims (demons); Johnny fights a watery demon underwater; Johnny and Blackheart fight (lots of throwing, grunting, crawling); Blackheart throws Roxy against a wall; characters shoot Blackheart with shotgun (one shot takes off his head, whereupon he's surrounded by swooping bad souls, whom he absorbs); Ghost Rider's Stare of Penance makes bad guys scream and die.
Sex: Roxy's tops always show cleavage; Roxy and Johnny kiss several times; Mack makes a joke about "needing a woman's touch."
Language: "S--t" (used once), "son of a bitch," "damn," "hell," "ass."
Consumerism: Brief visual displays of Marlboro cigarettes and audio allusions to Johnny's favorite band, the Carpenters.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: One scene of chaos is set in a saloon (patrons and bartender are killed by demon); in other scenes, characters smoke cigarettes (Johnny's dad smokes and has cancer; Johnny later turns down a cigarette offered by a cop); characters drink beer (though, Johnny won't drink, saying, "Alcohol gives me nightmares"), and a scene dedicated to Roxy's imbibing a full bottle of wine while waiting for Johnny to show up for a date (she appears drunk at the end).

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.