Contributor: Andy Spencer
Written by Scott Gimple, Seth Hoffman, and David S. Goyer
Directed by Neveldine/Taylor
Let me get my opinion of the first “Ghost RIder” out of the way first: it was an okay film. Great effects, slightly-above-average acting, some crappy writing, and an okay story. It was not as bad as the Tomatometer would have you believe. There were some undeniably cool moments in the first film, such as the skyscraper scene and the battle in the ghost town. It was not the greatest comic book movie, but it was far from the worst.
The same cannot be said of “Spirit of Vengeance”. Virtually nothing that made the original any good has remained intact over the four intervening years. I hardly know where to begin.
Ah, I know. The one area that, if anything, should have been improved from the first: the special effects. In the first film, the effects had flair; they looked cool, and were often quite entertaining to watch in motion. The directors (Neveldine/Taylor, who directed the “Crank” films and “Gamer”) carry over their gritty looks from their prior films, and what results is almost hellishly ugly. The effects lack any charm or cleanliness; everything looks dirty, messy, and boring, rather than spectacular.
As a result, the many action scenes lack any sort of punch or exhilarating qualities. There are not many effects-based action flicks that I can say have truly bad CGI, but here’s one. Oh, and I hate the 3D gimmick as much as the next guy, but this is an insult to it. Almost every 3D movie is better in 2D (with one obvious exception), but the magnitude to which that is true here is unimaginable.
The characters are all moronically written (more on that later), to such a degree that I actually found myself wanting some of them to die. Nadya (portrayed by the fairly attractive Violante Placido) is annoying, and on my nerves halfway into her first scene. Danny (Fergus Riordan) is thoroughly unlikeable as Satan’s son, and if I have to talk about Carrigan/Blackout or Satan himself, I’ll be laughing too hard to keep writing.
The writing could also have used a facelift. Granted, the first film occasionally took itself too seriously, but the tone worked most of the time. The writers seemed to agree a bit too eagerly. Ghost Rider himself takes the brunt of this criticism. Nicholas Cage clearly tries to go along with it, and at times succeeds admirably. However, the constant groans (“When I saw you I thought I was still dreaming.” “Are you having hallucinations?” “No. I’m flirting with you.”) will grate on your nerves constantly.
Even worse is the shattering of the fourth wall. The winks at the camera (or they would be, if Ghost Rider had eyelids) and accusations toward the audience of wrongdoing are neither funny nor necessary. By his very nature, Ghost Rider is a hero meant to be given a dark film, violent and grim. Tongue-in-cheek and flat-out stupid are not what should have been. I’m not even going to bother mentioning the story, with its total predictability and ending you could see for miles, or why Ghost Rider ends up in the hospital for being shot at. This movie is bad enough as it is.
Score: 3/10
