Film Review – Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance 3D

It’s without doubt that 2012 is the year of the superhero movie. It all kicked off a few weeks ago with the arrival of Chronicle, and what could be seen as the dark horse of all the superhero releases this year. The film has set the bar for the more established heroes of comic book and screen; an achievement of epic proportions. But can the second superhero feature of the year beat it? Next to step up to the plate is the return of Nicolas Cage as anti-hero Johnny Blaze, in Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance.

After selling his soul to the devil and possessing the curse of being the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is still failing to come to terms with the soul-eater inside him. Hiding out in Eastern Europe looking for a way to contain the darkness within him, Johnny soon comes across Moreau (Idris Elba), a monk with added firepower who can offer him a way to rid himself of the curse bestowed upon him.

The mission, should he choose to enter the fray, is to protect a young boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan) from the Devil (Ciarán Hinds) before he can use the boy as a human embodiment of pure evil. Danny also happens to be the devil’s human son. With the lure of the Ghost Rider’s imminent demise in his mind, Blaze agrees to help Moreau and the hunt for the boy begins.

On the other side of the playing field, the devil himself is upon earth to search for the boy, with the help of the murderous Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), whom he gifts with supernatural powers to decay anything he touches. As the hunt for the boy develops, Blaze and Moreau come across the boy’s mother (Violante Placido) to make it a very family affair and the action kicks into gear for a finale which could see either the Ghost Rider make one last stand of the devil come out victorious.

The double team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor was one of the most talked about and anticipated things about this new Ghost Rider flick. With their two Crank movies showcasing pure adrenaline and high-octane action it was clear that these could be the guys to fuel the Ghost Rider’s latest outing. This said, it’s an unfortunate turn of events that they instil nothing much more than we already witnessed in the first hell-blazing chapter.

With a story that is both simple and unimaginative, Spirit Of Vengeance falls at the first hurdle. Admittedly, in films of this type the main plot can play second fiddle to the action and visuals on show, but even these are few and far between; and in terms of impressing, most of them don’t. True, Neveldine and Taylor have given Ghost Rider a meaner look, with a bigger focus on the black smoke and chargrilled look to our anti-hero. But, in truth we don’t quite see enough of the main man.

When we do see the flame-covered, chain-wielding menace he is accompanied by the most ear piercing guitar solo to be heard on a surround sound system and this purely draws the attention away from what should be the most exciting moments of the film. Couple this with some truly Neveldine/Taylor moments lifted straight from their Crank-esque minds (Ghost Rider laying in mid-air spinning around randomly is just one example) and at certain points Spirit Of Vengeance enters the realms of bizarre.

Nicolas Cage never quite comes across as a hero you can root for. Despite this project being much documentated as a great passion of his, Cage never appears to project his enthusiasm on-screen. As for his supporting cast, Idris Elba is a likeable yet almost underused sidekick. The only other notable act is Ciarán Hinds, who is at his menacing best portraying the devil in the most sinister fashion he can; a highlight in a harem of standard performances.

A second return for the Ghost Rider with the Crank team at the helm was supposed to bring the badass back to the character, but offers very little more than its predecessor. Instead we are shown some truly mind-bending moments, a few good chunks of our anti-hero in action and the bitter taste of a soundtrack more suited to a heavy metal gig. Throw in some absolutely unnecessary 3D (only about two moments in the film is the 3D worthy of use) and you can understand why this has been listed under the Marvel Knights bracket rather than the flagship Marvel name.

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