Ghost Rider & Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Spirit of Vengeance Trailer

Looks a lot better so far...and while I've never even considered the mechanics of that last scene...once it is seen, it cannot be unseen...

 

SOV comes out this weekend. I have moderate hopes for it- the duo behind the Crank movies did this one, and I absolitely love how crazy those films are. Not sure how well that'l translate to GR, but we'll see I guess (but peeing fire is a start ) .

Reagrdessl, Cage made a guest appearance on SNL last week, in a hilarious segment with his impersonator.

"It's the quintessential Nicholas Cgae flick."
"In that all the dialogue is either whispered or screamed."

 

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance- Well, that was fun. Not great, mind you, but fun. It's no surprise that it's significantly better than the original film (which wouldn't be too hard, really). It's a reboot similar to Hulk vs Incredible Hulk, just with the same actor in the lead- we get a new version of the origin in a brief sequence early on and move onto the new story.

It's a very dichotic film... half of it is a pretty decent B-movie action horror flick that has discarded the western trappings of the first film with east European locations that provide more appropriate settings.

The other half has the insane humor stylings of Crank and Crank 2 that also plays up Nick Cage's quirks to amusing effect, with rapid intercuts of craziness and random backstory interludes (both similar to the ones in Crank).

That strange sense of humor actually does make the film as it is somewhat unique for a superhero film- although I kinda wish they had restrained themselves and attempted a straight action/horror film, because the horror elements are actually handled quite well, especially The Rider himself.

The small touches like The Rider swaying (as if to music) give him a very creepy ghost story/spirit vibe that is very effective and could have been quite scary if the surrounding movie had taken a more serious tone to it's execution.

The use of some of his powers are quite neat as well (him transforming whatever he's riding, for instance).

The 3D is quite good too. Support cast works well too (except for that Decay guy, whose powers lead to great, creepy visuals but who is too out of place in comic tone). Danny is not annoying and the mother is not the walking cliche I had feared from that awful "my kid's the one good thing i ever did" cliched line in the trailer. And, yes, that is Christopher Lambert.

It does pull it punch slightly on one account, though- we never see The Rider killing someone he shouldn't, which is something we're warned about, but there's no payoff to that. I was really hoping the film would have had the balls to have him kill the girl at the end when they finally come face to face without Danny to stand in his way.


So, while not the insane greatness of Crank 2, it's not supposed to be, so that's kind a good thing. It's better than the uneven Gamer and far better than the first GR movie and the other Marvel Knights film, Punisher: War Zone. Though still decidedly a B-movie somewhere below Daredevil and the Thomas Jane Punisher.