AnythingHorror Central

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Posted by anythinghorror on February 28, 2012 · 3 Comments 

When I started into Marvel comics in the 70s, I was drawn to the wilder, more monstrous of the heroes in their pages (and let’s face it, the 70s is the time for such wildness). I went past Spiderman and Daredevil, opting instead for Man-Thing, Morbius the Living Vampire, Werewolf by Night, Howard the Duck, Brother Voodoo… and my favorite, Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider.

Now, we all know about the 2007 GHOST RIDER movie. Some people thought it was terrible, others thought it was just bad. Me, I was disappointed. It was a crummy adaptation of a comic I loved so much. I wasn’t as hateful of Cage’s portrayal as other people have been, but the scenes with the Rider were, no joke intended, lifeless. The villains were pathetic, even the Devil as played by Peter Fonda. Dark and murky, like my colon, but not as fun to visit.

But someone must have liked it, because the movie went on to make $228 million. And as Hollywood dictates that any movie which earns at least 50 cents more than what it cost to make deserves a sequel, one came along, albeit five years later. Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who both worked on CRANK, GAMER, and the notorious JONAH HEX were brought onboard. And of course, Nic Cage was ready to play the role again. Let’s face it, we know his money troubles, and his consequent willingness to appear in anything, anything at all. MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE? Bring it on, dude!

Nic Cage is back ... trying to pay off his back taxes!!

Since its release, the sequel, GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE has been thoroughly reamed by critics worldwide, who had been denied an advance screening, which is never a bad sign. Does it deserve such brickbats?

We open with a quick recap of Johnny’s origins as the motorcyclist who made a deal with the Devil and ended up carrying a flaming (no, not like that) demon with a hard-on for vengeance. The first movie mixed up the comic book origins a little, giving the movie Rider mystic chains, the ability to “flame up” any vehicle he gets his bony hands on, and a Penance Stare which can inflict on its victim all the emotional damage the victim has ever caused (someone turn it on Michael Bey, please). But the essence of the human character is still there. And now it is eight years later, and Blaze has left his old life behind (including co-star Eva Mendes, who turned down the opportunity to reprise her role. Hmm, that doesn’t bode well) to go to Eastern Europe, where it’s cheaper to film.

Here, he’s approached by Moreau (Idris Elba, Stringer Bell in TV’s THE WIRE, and more recently as the Asgardian gatekeeper Heimdall in another Marvel comic movie, THOR), a Drunken Monk type who offers him a chance to be free of his curse, if only Blaze delivers to his fellow monks a young boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan). It seems Danny is being sought after by Roarke (Ciarin Hinds, THE WOMAN IN BLACK), who’s really the Devil in disguise (what, Peter Fonda skipped this one as well?). Roarke has employed gunrunner Ray Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth, EMPIRE RECORDS) to find Danny and his mother Nadya (Violante Pacido, THE AMERICAN), who played Mia Farrow to Roarke years ago and produced a half-breed in Danny (“You’re the Devil’s baby-mama,” Cage quips), a vessel more able to wield his diabolical power than his current all-human form (which he compares to a “flamethrower made out of paper-mache”). Roarke wants to transfer his soul into Danny’s body, but if the monks can keep Danny away long enough, Roarke’s body will burn up.

A very MAD MAX-inspired climax!!

The Rider battles Carrigan and his rocket launcher-toting henchmen in a construction site, leaving most of them dead and Carrigan dying – but Roarke isn’t finished with him, transforming Carrigan into an albino with the power to create areas of darkness and decay matter with a touch (reminiscent of the Ghost Rider comic book villain Blackout, though never called this in the movie), and sends him off for Round Two. Meanwhile, the monks have a trick or two up their own billowy sleeves about how to deal with the kid.

Okay, let’s clear something up. Is this movie the worst movie ever made? No. This would probably be perfectly acceptable as the Direct-To-DVD sequel that it so obviously is. Cage has stated that he got into character by drawing on various sources, including shamanism, voodoo and the movement of cobras and Trent Reznor (yes, Cage, actually I believe you). This he gets to chew the scenery to Gary Busey or even Charlie Sheen levels, culminating in a scene where he’s threatening a goon: “You’re a bad man! And that thing inside of me feeds on bad men! And he’s hungry, HE’S HUNGRY! The only thing standing between you and the Ride is me, and he’s just SCRAPING AT THE DOOR! SCRAPING AT THE DOOR!” The movie has one or two humorous scenes, but I don’t think this was meant to be one of them, but it had me giggling my head off. In comparison, however, the Ghost Rider says very little, and what he does say, Cage gives us in a whisper. Which is a big disappointment; I want to hear the Rider howl about how Vengeance is His! (Oh, and the notorious “pissing fire” sequence doesn’t actually happen in the movie, just as a visual throwaway gag better seen in the trailer here). If the Rider has a personality of his own, we don’t see it, and much of the internal conflict that Blaze shared with the demon is a little one-sided here.

Pissing away another try at a good GHOST RIDER flick!!

Of the rest of the cast, Idris Elba doesn’t embarrass himself too much, Pacido and Riordan make no impression, Whitworth does what he can with what he’s given, which isn’t much, and Ciarin Hinds’ Devil is just a bug-eyed guy in a suit, another disappointment (I’ve seen scarier devils in Tenacious D music videos).

The movie at least keeps moving, even in the hokey paternal bonding scenes you expect (though I had my doubts as I watched Johnny bond with Danny by teaching him trick riding without a helmet on his bike). And there is some decent European location work, in what looks like Turkey’s unique Cappadocia territories, as the movie ends in a MAD MAX style chase (diminished by the knowledge that I’m watching the Devil having to drive away in a pickup truck) and a promise of more sequels.

What's worse than a chain? A flaming chain, of course!!

But I will urge people not to see this, not even on DVD. For me, what should have just been a time-waster of a movie has been made sour and ugly by the behind-the-scenes battle between Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich and Disney/Marvel over the rights to the character. If you’re not familiar with it, the 68-year-old writer, broke and in bad health, has been fighting for a piece of the aforementioned $228 million. But a court has ruled against him. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Disney/Marvel and their phalanx of lawyers counter-sued because Friedrich sold Ghost Rider merchandise at conventions on the grounds that as he created the character, it was his property to exploit. The countersuit is a vindictive, unnecessary act, designed to send a message to any other artist/writer who might want to challenge the might of the corporations, and a sad continuation of exploitation that has been in the industry since the days of Superman. Many contemporaries in the comic community have rallied to set up a donation plan for him to help fight his legal fees, which you can visit here.

Personally I think Disney/Marvel has enough money.

Deggsy’s Summary:

Director: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Plot: 3 out of 5 stars

Gore: 2 out of 10 skulls

Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains

Reviewed by Derek “Deggsy” O’Brien