Review of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) by Danny+ L — 30 Aug 2014

Nicolas Cage is back in the titular role of "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"; the sequel to the first poorly received film. Unfortunately for fools like me who paid to see it, this one isn't any better.

That said, "Spirit of Vengeance" isn't any worse either. The light humor of the first film is replaced by strange and bizarre storytelling. The plot is not engaging, the dialogue is juvenile, and the characters are one-dimensional. The action is a step above the first film, but is still pretty bad. What I can say I like about "Spirit of Vengeance" is that there is some interesting camera work and really impressive (but also not-so-impressive) visuals. I especially like the nice touch added of Blaze's leather jacket bubbling from the heat.

The acting in this is bad all around. Nicolas Cage's performance is just awful; far worse than the first. His line-delivery is atrocious. The other cast members are people you've never heard of and will never hear of again. The only bright point is Idris Elba's character. I always enjoy Idris Elba, and he makes the best of an otherwise poorly written character.

"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" is a film behind the times. With "The Avengers" only months away, this film will quickly be forgotten. "Spirit of Vengeance" takes a lot of pages from "Jonah Hex's" book (right down to the out-of-place animated scenes), and the results are predictably devastating. This is a joyless film; the result of it taking itself too seriously. As it turns out, Ghost Rider not only has the ability to suck the soul out of people...He can suck it out of films too.