The embargo for the reviews has recently been lifted, and with that, earlier today we saw the release of the first reviews for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Clearly they give the movie quite a hard time, but does it really deserve it?
Johnny Blaze, still struggling with the curse of being the Ghost Rider, is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when a secret sect of the church asks him to save a boy from the devil. At first Johnny is reluctant to use his power, but it's the only way to save the boy and possibly rid himself of this curse forever.
The common expectation for this movie, I believe is for it to be a mindless fun, bad ass type of a movie; complete with crazy action scenes,
et cetera. Many do not expect the movie to have a story that actually matters much. Well, I am sorry to disappoint, but if you're going to see this movie with the hope of fulfilling that kind of expectation, you better change your mind! In fact, the movie spends most of its time with the characters interacting one with another, trying to make themselves feel necessary (while they really are not). The action scenes themselves rarely appear; and when they do, they are rather short, unexciting..far from entertaining. On the other hand, David S. Goyer manages to craft a rather intriguing story. Unfortunately, it's just delivered badly thanks to the poorly-written script and the bland performances from the actors. At some points, visual narratives are also featured, mainly to tell flashbacks. This device, however, does not work well, as the visuals presented are not enjoyable, while the narrations are not delivered finely, either. Combine them with the misplaced humor, the potential plot ends up being a rather awful one.
As I've mentioned before, the performances from the actors aren't good, and the characters are so badly written we can barely feel them. There is scarcely any development for any of the characters, and other than the main players it seems that the supporting characters are just thrown in there for no reason whatsoever. Reprising his role from the first movie is Nicholas Cage (which is the only thing this movie and its predecessor share in common), portraying the main protagonist, Johnny Blaze. The way he breaths life into Blaze doesn't differ much from the first movie; but he actually seems to have grown slightly more eccentric. That being said, he still doesn't fit the role, nor does he attempt to make the audiences change their minds about it. To my own surprise, even an actor like Idris Elba, who has become a fan favorite thanks to his usually outstanding acting skills does not even stand out in it! Well, he may still be the best out of the rest of the cast, but during the first half of the movie, his performance falls short. And although he gradually improves as the movie goes on, this definitely isn't his best performance. Another character I'd like to talk about here is Carrigan - you may be more familiar with his alter ego, the villain Blackout - portrayed by Johnny Whitworth. Other than in
Limitless (in which he acted well as a supporting character), I honestly have never seen the actor's performance in any other movie; but I can tell that his performance in this movie is horrible, especially to fill the role of the 'main' antagonist. (I have to put the quotation marks there, because in the end, the character doesn't seem to serve that purpose well.)
The portrayal of the 'main' villain is one of the movie's biggest failures.
Okay, the movie is not all bad - although sadly, I only have one good point about the movie which actually doesn't affect the overall result that much, either. What is it? The special effects! Several scenes involving Ghost Rider himself are impressive. The rendering of the character is definitely an improvement from the first movie, as it now looks far smoother, more natural, and works better in motion; aside from the design of the character which is also more effective rather than the one used in the previous movie. It is sad to say that even this one aspect is not always good. As I've mentioned before, the visual narratives do not present visuals that are pleasing to see, and besides that, several minor bits such as the movement of Ghost Rider's chains and Blackout's powers occasionally look cheap.
The special effect is an improvement from the first movie.
Last but not least; let's not forget about the 3D. Sadly, the fact is the 3D itself is forgettable! I don't usually go to see movies in 3D, and I have to admit that the technology is used well in around the first five minutes of the movie as well as a few bits near the end. However, during the rest of the movie, I even forgot that I was watching it in 3D. In short, try to avoid this version; unless you are left with no other option (if you're still going to see the movie anyway).
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance fails in pretty much every aspect, and with that, it doesn't manage to bring any improvement to the franchise. Instead, it succeeds in making its mediocre predecessor look better.