Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Review

Plot Summary:
Still struggling with being the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is hiding in Eastern Europe. One day, a priest named Moreau (Idris Elba) from a secret church asks him to protect a boy from being the next anti-Christ. In exchange for doing this, Johnny could get rid of the Ghost Rider curse that has changed his life.

The Positives:
While this film is far from great, it still has some redeeming qualities. I was impressed with the CGI in this film. I really liked the new look of the Ghost Rider, it looked like a burning skull rather than a cartoony skull on fire. I feel they made it look realistic rather than goofy for a change.

I was also very impressed with the action scenes in this film. You can't expect less from the directors of the "Crank" movies. The first film lacked action scenes, but here there were plenty and they are definitely worth the ticket price alone. The camera movements and the fast-paced editing make these action scenes crazier and cooler than any other action film in a while.

As I said before, this is no means a great film, but it was still entertaining for the most part. If you enjoy the YouTube videos watching Nicolas Cage act like an idiot or act badly, then this is worth your time. Cage gives such a terrible performance here that it is absolutely hilarious to watch. Other than Cage, this film is full of unintentional humor. Although it wasn't needed, I feel without it, this film would not be as entertaining as it was.

The Negatives:
I was personally very disappointed with this film. I expected this film to be a great Marvel reboot similar to The Incredible Hulk and X-Men: First Class. Instead we get a stupid, trashy action film with hardly any character development and a confusing story. Most would think with a film with a plot like this, it would be a simple B-Movie. Instead, it jumps from scene to scene and plot point to plot point, making this film more confusing than it needs to be.

As I mentioned before, Cage gives a terrible performance here, but it's at least enjoyable to watch. The rest of the cast, on the other hand, is absolutely atrocious. I expect better acting from most of these people like Idris Elba and Ciaran Hinds. These actors are wasted in this film and deserve better work than this.

The script itself is the main cause to the problems I mentioned earlier. This is the same writer who brought us The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. I expected a strong and intelligent script from this guy. Instead, this is a lazily done script, one that could have been re-edited if it was looked at. I feel if this was a stronger script, this would be a far better movie.

Conclusion:
While miles better than the first film, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is still a disappointment. I expected a lot better from both the directors and writer behind it. However, the action scenes and the unintentional humor make this bad film enjoyable to watch. So, I guess you could easily say that this film is so bad that it is good.

Rating: 4 out of 10