Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance

The Rider is Back! Five years after Nicholas Cage first took on the role of beloved Marvel comic book hero Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider, he's getting on his motorcycle one more time to literally send his enemies to hell as a fire demon. Many years have passed since the events of the first film. Former stuntman Johnny has turned his back on his homeland and is trying to control his inner demon in faraway Romania. But even though Johnny is far from civilization, the pact with the devil he made many years ago to save his father's life keeps catching up with him.

So it does again now, when Johnny is asked for help by the warrior monk Moreau (Idris Elba). The Devil's minions (Ciarán Hinds) have kidnapped ten-year-old Danny (Fergus Riordan), who was under the protection of the monks, and his mother Nadya (Violante Placido). The boy has very special powers that make him the perfect human vessel for the Prince of Darkness. But before the necessary ritual can be performed, the boy and his mother must be rescued and protected. And there is only one who can do it: the Ghost Rider!

Although the first film was not really well received by critics, nor by fans of the comic book template, and also the box office was rather low compared to other comic book adaptations, there was a second chance for the Rider. And at least it can be said that this was used insofar as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance is a completely different film than its predecessor. This is not only due to the Eastern European filming locations, but probably first and foremost due to the two directors. Because Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are known for weird and completely over-the-top action thanks to their two Crank movies.

But since they were dealing with a much more mainstream-oriented material here, the two had to scale down their penchant for extremely gory action considerably. Compared to Crank or Gamer, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance turned out surprisingly well-behaved. What they did keep, however, is their penchant for daredevil stunts, wacky humor and weird camera angles. So then the action sequences are really worth seeing staged, the stunts great and also the transformation of Johnny Blaze into the Ghost Rider is absolutely successful - especially since Cage may be in these scenes once again so nice over-excited crazy.

But even if Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance breaks completely new ground and tries to put the fun factor in the foreground, this sequel has unfortunately become, on balance, not much more than only conditionally entertaining B-movie trash. There's almost no story at all, the dialogue is completely uninspired, and the actors, Idris Elba aside, either act completely wooden, or completely over the top. And while this is still amusing in a way with Nicolas Cage, it comes across as rather forced and just plain annoying with his co-stars. As a result, without the fast-paced action sequences, some of the more sedate moments would be hard to bear.

One quick word about the 3D effect, which, as with so many other 3D films unfortunately, is hardly really there. There are a few nice moments where the 3D visuals may not really enhance the entertainment factor, but at least support it. But in most scenes, especially the darker moments, the action works at least as well if not better in 2D.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance is absolutely consistent in its efforts to differentiate itself from the Rider's first canvas appearance, you have to hand it to Neveldine and Taylor. But unfortunately, their completely over-the-top comic book adaptation is only really entertaining in the well-staged action sequences. Otherwise, the crazy behaviour of the actors and the stupid dialogues get on your nerves quickly. Therefore: quite fun, but still only conditionally worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp