This movie fanatic hasn’t found too many people that would go along with his support of the first “Ghost Rider” film. Yes, it was arguably forgettable, but Nicolas Cage played the character straight for the most part, avoiding camp and any manners of cheese. Plus, it was nice to see the character brought to life on the big screen. Granted, this reviewer didn’t follow the comic books, but knew of the hot-above-the-collar Marvel superhero, and mostly because he was usually right beside the “G.I. JOE” comics in the local rack.
So nonetheless, another opportunity to witness the Ghost Rider on the big screen would be something to be excited about. The trailer and TV spots looked fun, and the behind-the-scenes footage that was shown during the “First Look” entertainment before features at the local multiplex was cool and promising. However, the team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor behind the cameras drew a pause. This was the team behind the “Crank” movies, which were entertaining in their own right, but then they also delivered the pretty bad “Gamer” and wrote the absolutely abysmal screenplay to one of the worst films released in the last five years, “Jonah Hex.” So needless to say, the first experience with lending a hand to bringing a comic-pane character to life didn’t go so well for this dynamic duo.
It is safe to report that “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” will never be as truly awful as “Jonah Hex” was, but as a superhero movie, the focus seems to stray from the superhero. Also, it is time for Neveldine and Taylor to prove that they can actually direct a film using something besides the same hyper-style that they utilized in their first feature, “Crank.” These points only lend to frustration and a bit of boredom while watching the film, and this isn’t so much a celebration of the character as it is a testosterone-fueled, exaggerated action piece which tries to stupidly lop in a family dynamic as well.
First, a quick note on the sound: when the Rider is about to lay the smack down on a group of thugs but hasn’t been seen yet, he is heard, and the sound effects sound more like he’s a Transformer than anything else. Why does every action movie feel the need to utilize such sound effects now? From this film to the trailers for the summer’s “Battleship” and “G.I. Joe” sequels that ran before it, all of the films utilize this strange sound effect, which sounds somewhat alien and therefore would really only work in the context of a film involving aliens. But such noises originated in the Michael Bay-directed robot flicks, and they should stay there. And they especially don’t belong in a Marvel superhero flick.
The camera is just as frenetic and spastic as it would be if Chev Chelios(the main character from the “Crank” films) were running around, and such hallucinatory cinematography is used to great effect when Johnny Blaze is fighting his transformation into the Ghost Rider. He never transforms in slow motion; he either does it off screen, or in this hyper-stylized manner. How could a film possibly care about its own lead character if it refuses to keep the focus on him for more than a few seconds at a time? And the camera is constantly moving, even aside from action sequences when it doesn’t really need to. There are a couple of cool shots, but they are marred by later cinematographic decisions.
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” has its irritants, but it’s the story that really kills the film. During the climax of the film, this reviewer found himself annoyed more than anything else, and a strange question popped into his head at that moment: what does this have to do with anything? The story revolves around this boy who seems to be the son of the devil, but jumps between crying like a little baby and looking all Damien-like and evil. This kid seems to have more mood swings than Kirsten Dunst in “Melancholia.” So when the film doesn’t dip into “The Omen”-like moments, it has Johnny Blaze behaving like a father figure toward the kid. Yep, that happens. There is even a scene where Johnny takes the kid for a ride on his motorcycle and pops wheelies for him. Perhaps this story dynamic is for all the soccer moms that have to reluctantly accompany their younger children to see this movie.
And why is Johnny hiding in another country near Turkey, of all places? It’s never explained, but Idris Elba’s character seems to find him really easily, so obviously Johnny’s hiding spot isn’t too good. The questions could start early on, but from frame one it is clear that this film is not the type of movie that was made to be sensible. It was made so there could be action scenes with distractingly loud heavy metal music in them, almost to the point of distraction. Perhaps it was made for a somewhat younger audience(apart from the one f-bomb that had to be thrown in there) that will keep quiet for ninety minutes at the thought of wearing cool glasses and seeing things on fire, guns go pop and bombs go boom. Because this film was in no way made for somebody who loves the Ghost Rider character and wants to celebrate him. “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” lacks anything resembling the spirit of a superhero movie, and that is the biggest offense of all.
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