Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Directed by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor | 95 minutes | action, thriller, fantasy | Actors: Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Ciarán Hinds, Christopher Lambert, Violante Placido, Johnny Whitworth, Fergus Riordan

The first ‘Ghost Rider’ (2007) wasn’t exactly a great movie. You can therefore wonder why a sequel about this motorcycle devil is released five years later. The first part didn’t really stand out at all. A mediocre story, little depth of characters and a high degree of predictability were the biggest flaws of the first ‘Ghost Rider’. Commercially, however, the film was a success and in Hollywood you usually know that a sequel is only a matter of time. That is why we now see Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) at work as Ghost Rider in ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’.

The story of this part is set four years after the original and Johnny Blaze has since fled to Eastern Europe. Because he still does not have his soul back, he is hiding, far away from civilization. When he is approached by a religious sect to protect a young child from the devil and he can get his soul back in return, he doesn’t have to think twice and gets back on the bike anyway. As this thin story suggests, you don’t need to have seen the first part to be able to follow ‘Spirit of Vengeance’ properly. In the intro you will also be briefly updated about the history. In addition, except for Nicolas Cage, the entire cast of the first part has been replaced. This time for the supporting roles, Violante Placido plays Nadya (the mother of the child) and Idris Elba plays the priest Moreau, who tries to help Johnny during his mission. This time Ciarán Hinds has been chosen for the role of the devil, who we saw recently in ‘Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy’.

It’s really unfortunate that after five years they couldn’t come up with a better script than this. ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ doesn’t do anything new at all and actually continues on the path it took with the first part. Had this been a good road, nothing would have happened. But it is mainly the poor story and the complete lack of innovation that kills the film. Just like in the previous part, you know long in advance how the film is going to end and the makers make little effort to be original anywhere. And what’s up with Nicolas Cage lately? Whereas until a few years ago he was usually a guarantee of quality, his presence in films nowadays seems more like a guarantee for a mediocre film. Not that this is always due to his own acting, but in ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ he doesn’t really convince as Johnny Blaze. In particular, the scenes where he fights his transformation into the Ghost Rider (one halfway through the movie in particular) are of a questionable level. With his cringe-inducing performance in ‘Trespass’ (2011) still fresh in his mind, his acting performance in ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ is also not very convincing.

The funny thing about a movie like ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ is that, no matter how mediocre it often is, it doesn’t get boring. The special effects of the Ghost Rider on fire on his bike are certainly impressively done. And even though the action isn’t of a very high level, the scenes are entertaining. It is therefore these parts, in which Johnny Blaze as a demon on his motorcycle attacks everything and everyone and the underlying story does not matter for a while, in which the film is at its best. In addition, Idris Elba in particular plays a funny supporting role. Like the French priest Moreau, he knows every time to confirm the prejudice that all French people love wine. It is these sparse moments when ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ rises above itself for a moment, only to quickly descend again, back below mediocrity.