Movie Review: 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Starring Nicolas Cage, Idras Elba, and Ciaran Hinds Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor Rated PG-13

Is it really that hard for film makers to insert tangible character arcs into their creations?  It never ceases to amaze me that people will pour millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours into a script whose characters would make flatlanders seem three-dimensional.  That's the main problem with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider, though it certainly isn't the only one.  The original failed in pretty much every conceivable way, but this one manages to raise the bar by only failing in almost every conceivable way.

Nicolas Cage is his usual crazy self as Johnny Blaze, a man who made a deal with the devil to save his father and wound up possessed by an evil angel that turns him into the titular Ghost Rider...well, whenever the plot wants him to.  In the last film, he changed whenever it was nighttime, but sequel continuity issues are really the least of this movie's problems.  Blaze finds himself in Eastern Europe where he is tasked by Moreau (Idris Elba), an alcoholic, gun toting priest to keep the Devil himself (Ciaran Hinds) from unleashing his full power on earth.  Doing so involves protecting a REALLY annoying kid (Fergus Riordan) from his grasp.  In return for going along with the plan, Blaze will have the demon exorcised from his body and his life returned to normal.

The story has some obvious potential, but the film fails so strongly at a basic narrative level it's impossible to care about anything that happens.  The characters are both boring and stupid.  The Devil, has worldwide influence and the ability to dole out super powers to random people, but mostly just sends small groups of dime store thugs to do his bidding. Blaze goes through the ceremony to remove his powers, but does so before his fight to defend the boy is finished.  The boy's mother (Violante Placido) tries to kill people who are obviously trying to help her.  I think I'll just save time and say that pretty much every decision that the characters make is dumbest decision they possibly could make. 

The very, very minor highlights of the film include some of the action scenes, which actually manage to be fairly impressive and creative in their own right.  The CGI used to portray Blaze in Ghost Rider form is vastly improved from the earlier film, and the way in which the rider swings his chains around gives the movie an almost martial arts feel.  Unfortunately, the Rider is portrayed as being nearly invincible.  The only time his enemies seem to be able to hurt him is towards the end, and even then only mildly.  So much for that whole "tension" idea.

Cage manages to take a shallow role and insert some life in it, mainly by dialing his crazy factor up to 11 in a few scenes that become pretty entertaining.  Idris Elba, usually a solid actor, gives a depressingly bad performance that's over the top in all of the wrong ways.  Ciaran Hinds plays a convincing Satan, but never manages to get past the material he's given.  Fourteen-year-old Fergus Riordan's performance was grating, but will probably do a good job of encouraging birth control among audience members.  You always have to look on the bright side.

The film tries to turn into a kind of self-aware parody at certain times, with a random sense of humor that does occasionally work.  One particular gag involving a twinky managed to get a big laugh out of me.  They come too far and few between, though, and don't justify what is otherwise an incredibly dull, frustrating mess of a movie.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from this movie.  What little good there is in it will likely pop up in two minute bursts, anyways.  If you don't have the patience, just watch the exciting trailers and make up a better movie in your head.  It shouldn't be very hard.

Comments

[Phil]

Good thing i don't listen to internet reviews. just got back from seeing this tonight.

This movie was a lot of fun. Far superior to the 2007 film.

If you go to the movies to be entertained, this is the movie to see.