Review of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) by Will N — 08 Oct 2014

First, the good things. GRSOV is better than its predecessor. This wasn't a sequel, it was a reboot. And with David Goyer writing, it was expected to be better. Graphically, GR looked much better. He was much more of a character in this film.

Nic Cage's Johnny Blaze was much better. I loved that they skimmed over the origin. It was very well done. The action sequences were also top notch. However, the bad is a mix of what is bad about film-making in general and the unmet expectations of comic book lovers for Marvel Knight characters in general.

Ghost Rider is a pseudo interesting character to begin with. In theory, he should make a bad-ass film protagonist. In reality, he's great in action and graphically, but even Goyer's writing skills can't make him that interesting.

Like the abysmal attempts at getting a good Punisher on film, the reality is, the Marvel Knights characters will never make interesting films as long as the focus is on the violent part of their characters rather than what makes them dark in the first place.

So, in the long line of poor attempts, GRSOV ranks higher than Punisher: War Zone, Dolph Lundgren's Punisher and the original GR, but that's about it. I truly hope there isn't a third.