Ghost Rider review
This is the movie the first one should have been: crazy awesome and that is all that should have been from a Ghost Rider movie. This is a case where the sequel improves over the first bad movie. I was not looking forward for this movie because I had my share of bad movies from Neveldine/ Taylor before and obviously the first Ghost Rider was very boring, cliched movie. While this might be a dumb, action-packed, popcorn movie, Spirit of Vengeance manages to avoid most of the cliche traps that superheroes movies usually fall like Green Lantern.
This is very simple plot: years after the first movie, Johhny Blaze seeks to rid the Ghost Rider curse and with the help of warrior monk Moreau, he must protect Denny, a young boy destined to be the Anti-Christ from evil cult working for the devil. Thse movie plays like road movie a-la Mad Max than a superhero one (like the first one did) while it has great focus, its still pretty weak. But it for the sense of humor, has good action and I totally good movie.
Nicholas Cage is the best part of the movie. If he was not batshit insane in the first Ghost Rider, he is now in Spirit of Vengeance. When Mr. Cage is having the time of his life in the movie, the audience will have too because its so funny to have a complete nut for a hero than a bland, dull one. Also Idris Elba was awesome and funny as a French drunk warrior priest and could have stealed the whole movie if not for Nic Cage. Ciaran Hinds was way, way better than Peter Fonda as the Devil, being really creepy and menancing than bored and uninterested.
Thankfully, there is no romance in the story to speak of. Violante Placido plays the ravishing Nadya, Denny's mother and she is great support character who doesn't involve romantically with Johhny, she just happens to be beautiful and the Maccguffin's boy mother. This is a good thing in this movie's case that can't be bothered to slow the plot and action for the romance. If anything else, it happened between her and Blackout in the backstory and did not end well.
The thing I really, really liked in the movie was the Ghost Rider's effects. In the movie, he looked silly with the clean cut skull and clothes. In Spirit of Vengeance, his skull is burning black and his clothes are literally boiling you can see it, even if is CGI it looked really good.
This is a great action movie and one of the most crazy awesome superhero movies ever. It is a blast and that is exactly what wants to do. Go see it if you want a good time. :-)
