Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

2/10

Starring:
Nicolas Cage
Fergus Riordan
Ciarán Hinds
Idris Elba

Directed by: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

I wonder what is worse, the idea of a black skull instead of the normal grey skull from part one, or the idea of making Ghost Rider 2 with a script that looked like it was written by toddlers?

I think the latter was worse.

I cannot fathom how such a weak script could have gotten a go-ahead from the studio. If you think there couldn’t have been anything worse than the first Ghost Rider (2007), well, the producers of this movie have you covered.

Nicholas Cage is facing some financial issues, so that is why it seems like he is in every movie nowadays. But by now, out of all the crap he has been dishing out, you’d expect one to be at least good. But I guess I am wishing on a star.

The script being weak is one thing. Now add the lines in the movie. It was unbelievable. The only way you can enjoy this movie is if you are 8 and you catch it on Nickelodeon, Also, the acting in this movie does not also meet the price tag of the production, as it seems everyone was doing it for the money.

Set eight years after the first movie, our anti-hero, anti-villain character Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) is still struggling with the curse of being the Ghost Rider. Learning that the rider is uncontrollable, he decides to flee from all he loves and finds refuge in a remote part of Eastern Europe.

While there, he is approached by some monks to save a boy from the devil. At first, Johnny is reluctant, but the monks make him an offer he can’t refuse — they’ll help rid him of his curse forever, the curse of being the Ghost Rider.

The antagonist of the movie is one of Ghost Rider’s arch enemies, Blackout (Johnny Whitworth), who is a murdering psycho with no control whatsoever (that’s in the comics). Now, what would you expect? We have Blackout and the Rider together in the same movie. You’d expect some fun action, fighting, and cool CGI all wrapped in one movie ride.

But the makers of the movie had something else in mind. The antagonist will be named Blackout, but the only resemblance to the comic version is his face, they changed the entire origin story of the character and also his powers. Not only was that a heartbreaker, it was like looking a gift horse in the mouth. Here was a recipe for a dark movie that would rock, but instead we have to settle for a PG-13 Ghost Rider.

Directed by the Crank guys, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, with a screenplay written by David S. Goyer, the combination of these three still didn’t help make this a must-watch.

I think the studio with the Ghost Rider rights was pulling some gimmick, trying to ride the wave of the upcoming Avengers movie. But sadly, the audience didn’t bite, and the poor box office performance will result in the end of this franchise for now.

What else was wrong with this movie?

Cinematography. I have seen bad cinematography in B-movies, but this was worse. With a budget exceeding $60 million, you would expect better. So where did the money go? Trust me, it was not in the CGI. The CGI was so out of place. What would you expect, the movie was made with like half the budget of the first one.

In the very much future, when the rights go back to Marvel and they’re done with their Infinity War (which was in two parts, last one called Endgame) saga, we can hope for a better Ghost Rider movie. I advise you to take your time to look for something better to watch.