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As many movie-goers will notice, there has been an explosion of comicbook-based movies in the last few years.

Comic book legends have come to life thanks to the help of modern technology.

This comes as no surprise considering the large amount of money to be made within the market.

With both “Spider-man” and “Spider-man 2” grossing over 700 million dollars worldwide, it has become increasingly apparent that superheroes can potentially make super amounts of money.

This doesn’t mean that this new chapter in the comicbook genre is not without failures.

Movies such as “Elektra” seem to have fallen significantly short of the lofty bar set by movies like “Spider-man” and “X-Men,” leaving fans of the original comic-books severely disappointed.

“Ghost Rider” is the latest movie in the line of films based on stories from Marvel Comics.

In the film, a young motorcycle stuntman named Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) sells his soul to the devil, referred to as Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda).

Unbeknownst to Johnny, the devil plans on making Johnny his ghostly rider.

As the Rider, he is seemingly impervious to mortal injury, but at night, when the Devil beckons, he is engulfed by flames and endowed with special abilities that aid him in capturing demons that have escaped from Hell.

Johnny has to balance his regular life and the monster that arises from within him at night.

It is obvious that the Ghost Rider is not the typical spandex-wearing hero.

The subject matter of the film is extremely dark given that it deals with the signing away of human souls to the devil. Despite its content, the movie is rated PG-13.

This is the obvious choice as far as money is concerned.

A PG-13 rating means that parents will give the ok for their younger children to see the film, ultimately generating more revenue.

The other side to this debate is that the film’s content is limited to certain rating standards.

The effectiveness of the plot could have been amplified exponentially had the rating been R.

The antagonists could have been portrayed as the diabolical beings they truly are.

The devil’s minions are not beings that should be viewed as anything less then completely and utterly evil incarnate.

Instead, the general tone of the film is not very frightening and includes only a few instances where it comes close to being frightening with the aid of special effects.

However, the special effects themselves are nicely created.

The transformation of Johnny Blaze to a fire covered skeleton is pretty amazing and fits with what audiences have come to expect from the industry.

“Ghost Rider” falls somewhere in between the great examples of the seamless union of comics and film, and the money-driven inadequacies produced as a result of their success.

While it fails in comparison to some of the truly epic hero franchises, it does not sink as low as some of its predecessors.

In addition, the storyline is not without plot holes and unexplained phenomena.

Viewers that have little or no knowledge of the Ghost Rider comic book may exit the theatre with some questions about the details of certain characters and plot.

The story is adequate for those who want the gist of the basic concept and are more interested in other aspects of the film, such as the action.

In this case, casting Nicolas Cage as the leading actor is a mistake.

This is not always the case, as he has starred in many successful action films over the span of his career.

One reason Cage seems wrong for the role is because his leading lady, Eva Mendez, is ten years his junior when the characters they play are supposed to be the same age.

The pair had little on-screen chemistry and, therefore, made for a lack-luster love story.

Other instances in the movie seem to be written only to accommodate Cage’s age.

The best acting in the movie comes from Peter Fonda. His portrayal of the devil conveys an ominous unknown quality that is extremely effective.

“Ghost Rider” is an average movie with decent special effects that is good for movie goers who like more action than storyline.

For everyone else, it’s much lower on the list of movies to see in the coming weeks.