Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

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Release Date: 17 February 2012
Starring: Ciarán Hinds, Nicolas Cage
Details: US/95mins 12A

More of a reboot than a sequel, that doesn't help this comic adaptation achieve anything resembling coherence. Cage obviously wanted to do something edgier than the (financially successful) Mark Johnson directed original. While he achieves that at points, at others it plays like a heightened form of satire no one has bothered to tell the actors about. The first half is atrocious; tonally, performance wise and in most other ways it possibly could be. But as the film moves towards a conclusion, things somehow begin to resemble fun. Granted, that me be a case of progressively lowered expectations.

There's this kid, y'see, and said kid is in fact the son of aul Satan himself (the always reliable Hinds). Satan and our hero Johnny Blaze know each other from waaaay back, when Blaze sold his soul to him to save his father's life - in return having his skull burst into flames occasionally as he sucks souls out of other people. When the devil decides he wants his son back, he hires some dastardly sorts to do it - who our hero must protect the little Damien from. There's also something in there involving Christopher Lambert and Idris Elba being monks.

Cage is kind of an easy target nowadays. With the odd exception he has made consistently bad movies over a decade, and it's hard to defend him anymore. But Ghost Rider is a character he really cares about and hiring the guys who did Crank was seemingly a statement of intent. This was going to be dark, and it was going to be f**king mental. While it embraces elements of the latter, and occasionally plays up to Cage's whacky persona amusingly, Vengeance is crazy enough to be absurd but not extreme enough to be entertainingly so. The Eastern European setting was also a strange choice. Whether they went there for budgetary reasons and just embraced it is unclear; but it doesn't suit the character and the film is full of recognisable actors struggling with the accent.

Hiring two directors known for their out there, violent productions and then restricting the film to a 12A was another astonishing choice. This doesn't even have the cartoonish violence to distract you from how embarrassing the dialogue exchanges are. Neveldine/Taylor do handle the effects quite well and one or two action sequences (including a car chase) are genuinely impressive - it's just a shame the whole film doesn't play like that.

The first Ghost Rider was better. Actually, much better. And that's saying something.

Review by Mike Sheridan

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Your Comments

FilmBuff76

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance sees Marvel's comic book character Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) return to the big screen after an absence of 5 years. Not that anyone really asked for a sequel... Spirit Of Vengeance is bog-standard stuff, as Johnny seeks to protect a kid from a demonic cult led by ex-Highlander Christopher Lambert. A kid? That's the first sign that something's wrong with this film. Whereas the first film was darker, this sequel has been toned down somewhat for a family audience. This is particularly surprising given the usual excesses of directors Neveldine & Taylor, the crazy minds behind the Crank films. Cage is always very watchable but, given his recent output, he really needs to have a word with his agent. At least Ciaran Hinds gets to have some fun as the smarmy Devil. The 3D is pretty much non-existent as well, a result of yet another poor conversion. A big round of applause to E1 Entertainment for not supplying cinemas with an old-fashioned 2D version. Seeing a shoddy 3D conversion just makes the film feel even worse than it actually is...

Posted 17/02/2012 23:34:59

ted29

I wont be going to see this film for lots of reasons, one of them being life is too short. Some would say that excludes me from comment but when Sony pictures make every media source sign an enbargo not to review this film until one minute after midnight on its release date then you know its one of the worst films ever. I have to disagree with Filmbuff regarding Cage being always watchable. He was in Kickass and Bad Lieutenant and Adaptation but that about it this past 15 years. Everything else he has done has been a disgrace on iconic levels. Being broke and having tax problems is no excuse for turning out drivel. And thats all he does these days. He has lost all dignity in the acting fraternity as far as i am concerned and his self invented acting style is even more annoying than Jedward. Gone are the days of Raising arizona and Leaving Las Vegas forever i imagine. If you have a brain or even a shred of self respect, avoid this turd like the plague.

Posted 18/02/2012 09:42:06

FilmBuff76

What about Matchstick Men, Knowing or even his hilarious appearance as Fu Manchu in the Grindhouse trailer Werewolf Women Of The SS? He's an actor who likes to have a lot of fun with his roles.

Posted 18/02/2012 12:12:08

lilac

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance what can i say this has got to be the worst film that i have viewed in the last 12 months, not worth going to see as it is nothing like the first Ghost Rider. As for Neveldine & Taylor i hope that they read the reviews on this film and hang their heads in shame.

Posted 18/02/2012 20:23:54

Dave

I have nearly all but lost faith in the movies, having to say that descendants is one of the best movies out at the moment makes me want to cry... Ghost Rider is again down there as one of the worst movies of the new decade, Cage is hanging on an acting thread, he is ridiculously bad in this with his false hair and same lines, the kid is crap and poor Ol Ciaran is just filling in gaps between good movies.. the pace was excruciatingly slow first half and when it did take off it lasted 10 minutes, there is going to have to be a law brought in for us regular cinema goers to at least get a free ticket when sitting through crap like this... half a star for the fact that the female's make up was perfect all through the movie.

Posted 19/02/2012 13:56:41

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