Photo by:
Nicolas Cage reprises his role as the tortured, if well-intentioned, Johnny Blaze in “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.”
The film, once again, follows the story of Blaze as he struggles with his identity as an agent of Satan with a heart of gold. A mildly funny Frenchman, Moreau (Idris Elba), enlists Blaze’s help in a rescue mission and the action quickly begins.
The target of their rescue is a boy known only as Danny (Fergus Riordan), whose mother (Violante Placido), as Blaze so astutely points out, is “the Devil’s baby momma.” In addition to saving the boy and his mother from the Devil (Ciarán Hinds), Blaze must also battle Blackout (Johnny Whitworth), another of the Devil’s agents with the power of decay.
The film features a small amount of animation – two cut scenes in which Johnny Blaze restates his predicament and explains plot elements. The minimalist style of animation echoes the “Tale of Three Brothers” from “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I” and is effectively done.
Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (“Crank”) co-directed the film, which has an undeveloped plot. There are brief flashes of backstory for the characters, from the demon possessing Blaze to the conception of Danny, but this does not provide context for the audience. Though there is some resolution, the film’s denouement is underwhelming and does not evoke the reaction the directors were going for.
The acting throughout the film is average at best, with the most notable character, Johnny Blaze, taking somewhat of a personality departure from the first film.
This time around, Cage chooses to focus on the inner struggle Blaze has with the demon inside of himself, often screaming wildly or appearing to struggle to contain the beast within. This characterization ranges in and out of effectiveness throughout the film.
Other performances are adequate. Perhaps the most entertaining is Elba’s Moreau, joking about wine, guns and monks. Despite the small amount of comic relief, this character is easily forgotten.
Principal photography was executed in Bucharest, Romania, but the overall landscape and environment of the film is fairly lackluster. Barely straying from monochromatic brown, these Eastern European backdrops add little to the film’s visual value.
The action throughout the film lacks suspense, with the Ghostrider not having any real trouble with the enemies he’s pitted against, reducing most of them to piles of ash. Even stronger enemies like Blackout seem to pose little threat to the leather-clad hothead.
“Spirit of Vengeance’s” most compelling action sequence occurs when the character takes control of some heavy machinery at a construction site, turning the equipment into an instrument of destruction, complete with fire. The special effects during this scene are great, making one wish the rest of the film could be so exciting.
Cameras continually look to the sky, using the clouds and impending storm as a vehicle to establish the direness of the circumstances. Notable too is the use of contrast between light and dark, often echoing the personal struggle of Cage’s Blaze or the particular degree of evil is being displayed at the time. These aspects help to put some depth into the characters and the plot.
The film’s soundtrack adds little to the experience, with a cadence familiar to most superhero movies or chase scenes.
As a whole, the film falls short of its predecessor and though the ending leaves the possibility for more films to come, it may be wiser to leave the Ghostrider to his own devices.
