You've gotta hand it to Nicolas Cage. The man has spent the last fifteen or so years of his career doing whatever the hell he wants, and whilst the results have been mixed to risible, if he has enough passion for something, he's gonna do it, come hell or high water. It's been no secret that 2006's Ghost Rider was a massive passion project for Cage, and so enamoured was he with the character that, when a sequel was announced, the only surprise about Cage returning to the role was how unsurprising it was. If he could, I do believe the man would play Ghost Rider until the day he dies.
I didn't actually hate the original Ghost Rider. Despite its myriad of problems, such as a lack of a solid lead villain and hackneyed, over-the-top script, the film was also a surprising amount of fun, a decent B-flick to balance out the more serious fare of Superman Returns and X-Men: The Last Stand. Added to this was the arrival of directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor to helm Spirit of Vengeance. The duo's slightly-juvenile, hyper-MTV style seemed a good fit for the character, and the early shots and trailers were promising, suggesting a Ghost Rider film that was darker than the original, but also potentially more fun. Throw in one of my favourite actors working today in Idris Elba, and excitement for this installment was fairly high. I wasn't expecting a classic by any means, but would've been satisfied with something that was as much of a B-grade blast as the original.
Sadly, that was not to be.
The story finds Cage's Johnny Blaze, his origin slightly retconned in a beautiful animated opening title sequence, hiding out in "Eastern Europe" (can't people just pick a damn country?), and struggling with his inner toasty-headed demon. He's recruited by Moreau (Elba, possessing an odd French accent and even odder contact lenses) to rescue a young boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan), whom the Devil (Ciaran Hinds, wasted and not even remotely scary) is attempting to use for some spell that'll allow him to take over the boy's body. As far as storyline goes, that is literally it. The rest of the film is basically a thinly strung-together series of short action moments, Blaze attempting to gain the trust of the boy's mother, Nadya (Violante Placido, fulfilling the required "hot, vulnerable tough girl" role), and lots of weirdly-filtered shots attempting to show us... Blaze's? Ghost Rider's?... perspective.
Anyone who's seen the Crank films or Gamer will be familiar with Neveldine/Taylor's style, and it's on full display here. Unfortunately, the messy cinematography and all-over-the-place editing means it's quite difficult to follow a lot of what's happening during the action moments, so that when the film does slow down, you're left wondering where the characters are now and what the hell just happened. Exacerbating this is an utter lack of character development, a veritable fireplace of wooden acting, and a third act that blasts by even faster than the climax of Iron Man.
The film does have some good points - the CGI and design of the new and improved Rider is both impressive and badass, and Johnny Whitworth is a fairly lively supporting villain - but it's all lost under the car-crash of script and visuals that just have no idea where to go next. The film feels, if anything, like a movie-length episode of a SyFy Original Series, albeit with a bigger budget. Letting Cage off the leash ultimately winds up producing the film's most entertaining moments (and anyone who laughed at Cage's "How'd it get burned" moment in The Wicker Man will love his holding-back-the-Rider scenes), but it's all too little too late.
A more level-headed editor and a bit more script development could have made this a fairly enjoyable, if not harmless enough, experience; as it is, the movie's barely passable, and personally, I find that a true shame. Ghost Rider is a pretty cool character, with all the potential for a workable film franchise; unfortunately, this effort will probably mean it'll be a long time before we see the Rider onscreen again. If it does happen, one hopes that a Nolan-style reboot occurs, focusing more on the story and the character, than some flashy action and cheesy villains.
On a final note, if you can, I seriously urge anyone to see this in 2D; the post-converted 3D does not suit Neveldine/Taylor's style at all, and if you thought the shaky cam in films like Cloverfield was bad, wait'll you see five minutes of shaky cam in full 3D - it's not a pleasant experience.
All in all, Spirit of Vengeance had potential, but was ruined simply by a lack of patience to sit down and make this the best possible film it could be. I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait for that reboot to see Ghost Rider finally done justice.
Although don't be surprised if he's still played by Nicolas Cage.
Rating: 2/5
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