Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance once again sees Nicolas Cage reprise his role as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. Directed by Neveldine/Taylor (Crank) we find Johnny hiding away somewhere in Eastern Europe, still struggling with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter. When Moreau (Idris Elba), a rather unorthodox leader of a group of rebel monks, offers him a chance to rid himself of the curse forever, in exchange for saving a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil played by Ciarán Hinds, Johnny has to decide if he is willing to take another ride on the highway to hell.
The first thing I feel worth mentioning is that if you haven’t seen the previous movie, fear not, there is a quick montage towards the start of the film that is specifically designed for you. It’s a rather artistic story telling of how Johnny Blaze makes a deal with the Devil and Ghost Rider is born. Although a rather nice visualisation, it’s a storytelling vehicle, somewhat reminiscent of a Fanmade movie you’d expect to pop up on YouTube, that is used a few times in the movie with varying success as it stands out somewhat against the rest of the films style. That said, it does beat the alternative of a rather obvious plot recap by a key character in the film.
One main difference this time round is that Cage plays the part of the CGI enhanced Ghost Rider on-set. At a press conference Cage mentioned that he painted his face in the style of a voodoo skull, carried small ancient Egyptian artefacts and rocks with alleged mystic powers to help stimulate his imagination to believe he really was the character. Add to this the donning of burnt leather duds and accessorising with heavy flaming chains, it’s clear this all went a long way in helping Cage embody The Rider’s persona.
Cage’s portrayal of Johnny Blaze is great. You really feel the conflict within Blaze, who has been able to conquer the thirst from The Rider by living in isolation. A recluse from the outside world, “justice” has not reared it’s ghostly head for some time. However, when thrown back into the real world, the fight for control is on and he walks a dangerously fine line.
On one side he is a man who’s pissed at the world, his motivation is purely selfish, he doesn’t want to be involved in helping anybody but himself, his gravelly, emotionless voice and off the cuff humour, reflects the lonely journey he has traveled, and that’s the lighter side of his character.
The other side (The Rider) is full on crazy, he loves what he does and he has missed it, so when the opportunities arise you can be sure he’s going to take them and cherish every moment. It’s here where Cage pulls out all the stops, the conflict of Blaze trying to suppress The Rider, soon takes centre stage as the manifestation changes from internal to external. There is a wonderful scene (spoilerish – skip to the next paragraph) where Blaze is interrogating a bad guy and allows The Rider to warp and manipulate his face as he momentarily changes and then brings it back, whilst ranting like a mad man on the edge of self-control.
Unfortunately the film seems to stumble from set piece to set piece, there are some good action scenes, with the obligatory “slowmo” falling/shooting/fighting thrown in for good measure. The story is a rather underwhelming, saving kids, breaking deals and falling in love. It all seems just a little obvious and unoriginal.
One saving grace of the film (the other being the talent of Nicolas Cage and his well documented love of the Marvel Comic – he even has tattoo of the character) is by far the visual effects. The Rider is bad-ass and looks über realistic – one issue I had with the original was the whiter then white skull, yes it follows the same style as the comics, but it’s always bothered me there too – this time round it’s, grungy, charred, burnt, oily and downright more fitting of somebody who’s head is on fire, you can almost feel the heat coming off the screen. We also witness the ability of The Rider to transfer his fiery Flames of Hell to other vehicles then just his own Hell Cycle, this works great as it brings another dimension to the myth and provides some great opportunities for the effects guys to really show off the CGI flames they have perfected since the previous film.
The action runs fast and the flames hot, but just when things seem to be picking up, we slow right back down again as more plot and character building come into play. Its all very stop, start, stop, start. The rest of the cast seem to pale in significance against Cage, they are there but 15 minutes after the film has ended you don’t remember much about there roles and although Idris Elba throws in a good turn as Moreau as with the rest it’s all somewhat forgettable. It is nice however to see Christopher Lambert pop up on screen as a Tattooed Priest in a semi cameo role.
Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance is an entertaining film, but for my liking it hasn’t quite got the strengths of many of the comic book adaptations produced of late, it lacks sophistication and true direction. I don’t think this will be on the top of many “must see” lists, but if you want to see Nicolas Cage having fun with a role he feels very passionately about and have a spare hour and a half, give it a try.
Reviewed by Mark Wassmer.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is out on Blu-ray in the UK from 25th June.
The transfer is great although Neveldine and Taylor’s trademark raw graininess carries over so be warned. The Rider pops of the screen and you just wish there were more scenes involving him as he looks so good.
With over 2.5 hours of extras on the Blu-ray there is a lot of interesting things to see.
There is a 90 minute making of documentary which is worth the price alone. You can see that shooting in Transylvania was tricky and getting hold of the film equipment would have made a whole feature documentary. It involved travelling to India amongst other things. It is also incredible seeing how Neveldine and Taylor work. You will have heard of how they roller bladed and leaped off cliffs to get the shots, but to actually see it happening is incredible.
The best moments are seeing Cage as the Rider before the CG character is put in place. With his skull makeup and dark contacts he looks crazier than he has ever seen before. The cast and crew also mention that when he was portraying the Rider Cage did not speak to anyone as he stayed in character.
You can see genuine fear on some of the actors faces as Cage grabs them and pulls them closer to his face.
Blu-Ray Extras:
- Back in Black: Stories from the Set
- Vehicle of Vengeance
- Riding into Another Dimension (in 3D)
- The Path of Vengeance: Making Ghost Rider 2
- Blazing a new path
- Patience is not a virtue
- To Hell and back
- We will burn this City to bitter ashes
- Walking in both Worlds
- The Fires of Hell will purify you
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
