Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012) 3D Review

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Synopsis:

Own the Curse.

Johnny (Nicolas Cage), still struggling with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter, is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he’s recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy from the devil. At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it’s the only way to protect the boy and possibly rid himself of his curse forever.

Review

Sequels. In my opinion sequels are a hit or miss. They can go two ways, either as another stand alone with no connection to the original apart from the main character or expand on a story arc that aspired from the first film. With that in mind, I was rather surprised to see the number 2 at the end of the film’s title. The first one (for me) wasn’t all that great. Luckily I hadn’t seen the trailer so I didn’t know what to expect. I found the movie to be rather average and it didn’t feel like a sequel, but more of the same.

The film begins with a neat intro as to how “Mr Rider” comes to be in the first film. It’s done in a really cool comic kind of way with an artistic flare to it. Sadly it is rather short, however does bring you up to speed with what’s happened thus far (so you need not worry if you haven’t seen the original). We get introduced to a few new characters and they do their parts well enough for what’s needed of them.

I was really craving for more bad-assery (yes, I just made that up) from the Ghost Rider this time round, though it falls short of what’s expected now-a-day from a superhero/comic book movie. We do get some stylish scenes, but it’s either not enough or doesn’t have much difference to it. On the plus side, I did like the touches of humour that were found throughout the film…although I am not sure that it’s the kind of film that needs a comedic element, so it is a personal preference if you like it or not. The audience I was viewing it with did laugh out loud a few times.

As for the story, it’s pretty straight forward and rolled out in typical forte, which is kind of sad. I was truly hoping it would be different and give us something new. They did throw some ideas around and explain a bit more how our vengeful hero came to be, even so, there isn’t much else.

I did like the camera work. It seems like they were trying to spice things up here and there to give us a few interesting perspectives or shots and I think it worked for the most part, making certain scenes almost feel like a comic book. We are whisked around to a few different locations, but nothing really stands out.

One aspect I can give some credit to are, the special effects. The Ghost Rider looked absolutely demonic! Great CGI work done and at times he looked almost real. There is a really cool scene involving a huge (insert equipment name here), except…you will have to go see that for yourself. Apart from our anti-hero, the rest of the effects are pretty standard stuff too, from shooting, car chasing and the likes.

My main gripes about this film would have to be the plot holes and the average way the movie plays out. You would have thought after the first picture the director would have done something really awesome with this version, but sadly, no. There are moments where common sense should have been used (yes even in the movie world they could use a bit of common sense), only it doesn’t happen. Certain characters are made to look dumb and even the villain is nothing special, if not stupid, in my view.

At the end of the day, “Ghost Rider 2” does feel like a ghost, as you can basically see right through it. A lot more could have been done with the film except that’s not the case and we get a very mundane hero movie with a standard outlay…and that’s all she wrote! The film hasn’t been on a good run with a cost of $53million and grossing only $38million up till now. Oh I almost forgot, I did watch the movie in 3D and it added hardly anything to the features.

Worth the watch if: You are a fan of comic book movies/characters (though you will probably see the flaws more than me), wanting an action with a difference or have nothing better to watch.

Trailer

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