Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) Re-Review

"In the presence of evil, I change into a monster, and I prey on the wicked, and I suck out their souls. And you don't want to be around when that happens."

Lets continue our Marvel Cinematic Multiverse marathon with another hot-headed adventure with Nicholas Cage as the Rider as he fights his own inner demons during a mission to protect a young boy from evil; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Eight years after the events of the first film, Johnny Blaze is driven into hiding and fighting the dark spirit within him after realizing that the host Rider doesn't discriminate when it comes to consuming the souls of sinners. Anything ranging from genocide to a little white lie.

In exchange for Blaze's help, a French monk named Moreau promises to restore his soul and remove the Ghost Rider's curse.

A short while ago, Moreau warned a monastery about an impending attack by Satan's forces to obtain a boy named Danny. In the attack, Moreau tried to help the boy and his mother Nadya escape, but the distrusting Nadya shoots at Moreau and flees with her son. Believing that only the Ghost Rider can protect the boy, Moreau sought the Rider's help. Nadya and Danny's pursuers force them off the road and bring them to their leader: Nadya's former boyfriend Ray Carrigan.

Carrigan is about to execute Nadya when the Ghost Rider appears, killing several of Carrigan's men. Nadya distracts the Ghost Rider, who is shot with grenades. Johnny convinces Nadya to accept his help.

Carrigan tells the demon Mephisto, in the form of a man named Roarke, about the Rider, and Mephisto speaks an incantation to Danny over the phone, preventing the Rider from sensing Danny's location.

Warning that the spell will not shield Carrigan, Mephisto gives him instructions to deliver to Danny.

Nadya tells Blaze that as she lay dying, she made a deal with Mephisto: her life in exchange for him impregnating her with Danny, making their son a direct vessel for him, potentially giving him limitless power in the mortal world.

Mephisto turns Carrigan into the demon Blackout, capable of decaying anything he touches.

Now it's up to Johnny to save Danny and prevent Mephisto from obtaining unlimited power all while trying to control the Ghost Rider.

The story is not that well written as while it does have some decent and cool action scenes, the tone is darker and grittier, and there are a few enjoyably wacky scenes in this, but other than that the plot is not all that interesting as it's too fast paced, the drama's not interesting and pretty contrived, the creepy moments fail to get a scare, the movie has some very choppy and bizarre editing, there are lots of boring and pointless moments with things that don't make any sort of sense, and on top of that, it has little to no connections with the first movie as there are multiple continuity errors, inconsistencies, and retcons.

The action scenes are one of this movie's few redeeming qualities as these moments are kinda cool and pretty intense such as Ghost Rider taking out Carrigan's goons, the Rider's second encounter with Carrigan and his men which leads to him taking over a mining machine, and the climax where the Rider chases after Mephisto and Blackout, and takes them head on.

The drama in this is very uninteresting as any sort of attempt to have a dramatic or tender moment comes off as feeling very forced and hollow.

The movie does have a few unintentionally funny moments which can get a few laughs, and that's whenever Johnny is freaking out and going full "Hammy Cage" mode.

The production design is pretty decent as it does show it's value with the sets and setpieces being well made and having some nice detail, the actual filming locations featured are well utilized, the lighting is okay, and the costumes, makeup, and clothing are all pretty well crafted such as the new updated outfit for Ghost Rider.

The special effects are a good upgrade from the first movie as they look very solid such as the new and very badass design for Ghost Rider like how his fire looks more realistic and has smoke coming off him this time, and how his outfit is all singed, the motion capture from Cage, Ghost Rider's powers and abilities like his chain, lava breath, transformations, fire, Penance Stare, and so forth, the Rider's motorcycle, the fire and explosions, the destruction, Blackout's decomposing powers, and so forth.

The characters are all very weak as while Johnny/Ghost Rider himself is still a somewhat interesting character, and i do like how they tried to make the Rider feel more like an unnerving and eerie presence that's very hard to control, everyone else feels incredibly bland, dull, generic, and forgettable like Danny, Nadya, Moreau, and the Monks. And on top of that, the villains of the movie, Mephisto and Blackout, are pretty lame, boring, and feel pretty subdued as they're not really that threatening and get taken down way too easily.

The acting for the most part isn't really all that great as while Nicholas Cage does give a mostly decent and enjoyably over the top performance as Johnny/Ghost Rider, everyone else just looks uninterested and don't look like they're trying all that much like with Johnny Whitworth as Blackout, Fergus Riordan as Danny, Ciaran Hinds as Mephisto, Violante Placido as Nadya, Idris Elba as Moreau, Christopher Lambert as Methodius, and so on.

The music is also kinda weak as while it does try to sound all badass and intense, it ultimately ends up sounding kinda bland and generic.

Overall, while there are a few things to like in this movie, it doesn't make up for what's ultimately a mostly dull and uninteresting sequel that had potential to be better than the original, but failed to do so. Just skip this one and check out the cooler parts of it on YouTube.

Cast:

Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider

Ionut Cristian Lefter as Young Johnny Blaze

Johnny Whitworth as Ray Carrigan / Blackout

Fergus Riordan as Danny Ketch

Ciarán Hinds as Mephistopheles "Mephisto" / Roarke

Violante Placido as Nadya Ketch

Idris Elba as Moreau

Christopher Lambert as Methodius

Anthony Head as Benedict

Jacek Koman as Terrokov

Vincent Regan as Toma Nikasevic

Spencer Wilding as Grannik

Crew:

Directed by Neveldine/Taylor

Screenplay by Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman, and David S. Goyer

Story by David S. Goyer

Produced by Steven Paul, Ashok Amritraj, Michael De Luca, and Avi Arad

Music by David Sardy

Misc.

Ghost Rider created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, and Mike Ploog

Production companies: Marvel Entertainment, Crystal Sky Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, Imagenation Abu Dhabi

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

Release dates: December 11, 2011 (Butt-Numb-A-Thon), February 17, 2012 (wide release)

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes