Ghost Rider has always been a cool character to me. Someone stuck in a horrific world filled with supernatural beings and violence, demons and angels, not to mention your common criminal, all coming from one man making a choice based on keeping those he loved safe.

As a kid, I thought the character just looked awesome, as I’ve grown I’ve learned some of the layers and the tragedies and dualities that affect the character, and that just makes him more interesting. So, consequently, I was kind of eager to take a look at the 2007 Ghost Rider film again, having only seen it the one time when it first home video.

Honestly, Nicolas Cage is the perfect casting choice for Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider. Blaze is a hotshot motorcycle artist who makes a deal with Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda, yeah man!) to cure his father (Brett Cullen) of cancer. That deal is honoured, but of course, the devil is in the details and Dad dies in a different way the very next day.

But Blaze has signed a contract, he’s driven away from the life of his life, Roxanne (Eva Mendes) to keep her safe, and he knows that sooner or later, Mephistopheles is going to show up to demand he honours his end of the contract.

When he does, Blaze finds a strange power activated within him, and his motorcycle, converting him and his mount into the flaming-skull bounty hunter who collects evil souls for the devil. It seems Mephistopheles’s evil son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley) is hunting for a long-lost contract, one Mephistopheles was looking for at one time as well. A contract with enough souls bound to it to bring forth hell on Earth.

The only one who can stop him, is Ghost Rider, who finds himself gaining some advice and guidance from a mysterious caretaker (Sam Elliott!), who has a secret or two of his own.

Despite its cast, Ghost Rider is very much a high-end B-movie. If you accept that going into it, you’re probably going to have an okay time, and be able to forgive some of the plot holes and oversights that seem to plague the film, like what exactly defines hallowed ground? Cemeteries can’t be stalked by demons but churches are ok? Weird, maybe it’s a religious thing.

Then there’s the complete waste of Sam Elliott’s character at the climax of the film. Sigh. As well as a criminally underused Donal Logue.

The visual effects of the film are pretty solid for the time, and while I’m sure the character could be brought to life in a stronger visual way now, it works for what it is, and honestly, I had a grand ole time watching this one, because I refused to take it too seriously.

It’s goofy fun, Cage, honestly, is perfectly suited for the role, and honestly, I’d like to see the character introduced into the MCU and maybe have Cage do it…

We’ll see what happens in the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.