Film Review -- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance / Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor, & Nicolas Cage

I'll be upfront about the premise of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  It's an over-the-top, none too well thought out excuse for a dark fantasy action movie.  Don't go into this expecting to see a good adaptation of a comic book hero.  You'll be much better off if you go in expecting a so-so special effects action film with a flimsy pretense at being dark that just happens to be using the somewhat recognizable figure from the Marvel Comics pantheon of heroes.

Billed as a sequel to the 2007 film, also starring Cage, we find that time has not been kind to Johnny Blaze since he decided to use Ghost Rider to continue his personal vendetta against the Devil (played in this film with deadened, ineffectual scowls by Ciaran Hinds).  Hiding out in Europe, Blaze is approached by a wine-loving, motorcycle riding man named Moreau (Idris Elba, playing his second Marvel movies character after Heimdall in last year's Thor), who seeks his help in tracking down and protecting a young boy name Danny, who is apparently intended as a vessel through which the Devil can attain his full powers on Earth--if he can be properly sacrificed and possessed.  Agreeing so that he might be free of the curse of Ghost Rider, Blaze sets out to find and rescue the boy, who, along with his mother Nadya, is a target of the Devil's human agents.

After taking the boy from Carrigan, one of the Devil's men, he heads off to the men for whom Moreau works, a secluded order of monks.  The Devil, meanwhile, does not intend to let Carrigan die, and turns him into Blackout, giving him power over darkness and decay so that he can compete with Ghost Rider on his level.  Moreau, meanwhile, helps Blaze to overcome his curse and soon vanquishes Ghost Rider from his life.  The monks wait until this is done before resolving to sacrifice the boy so that the Devil can't have him, leaving Moreau, Nadya and Blaze powerless to defend him.  Blackout appears, murders the monks, and kidnaps Danny, setting the stage for the final conflict as the three heroes set out to rescue Danny and thwart Blackout along with the Devil's plans for the boy.

To be sure, there is a lot of material in this movie that will have you rolling your eyes in disgust, laughing out loud in derision, or shaking your head at the lack of logic.  There are plenty of plot points that are unexplained or glossed over, character development moments that seem trite and contrived, and moments of over-the-top action or lunacy that will hurt your brain.  But, in spite of all that--and, in some cases, directly because of that--I was thoroughly entertained, albeit in a trashy, guilty pleasures kind of way.

Be prepared to suspend disbelief--a lot.  A vehicle crashes in spectacular, frame-bending fashion with a kid inside?  No problem: he was wearing a seat belt!  Ghost Rider banished from Blaze's body, even though the Devil is in possession of his soul?  I mean, really, what's the explanation there?  He made a deal with the Devil, and signed a contract, and the monks can erase that like some standard curse?  Give me a break!  And ever mind how that particular point is resolved--the pain to your faculties is simply not worth pondering.  Just put your mind to the side, and enjoy the chases and action scenes like good little drones.

Where am I going?!?!  I'm going craaaaaaaazy!!!!!!!!!!!

Nicolas Cage's inspired--and some might say inspiring--craziness is on display in its full glory in this film.  There are at least two scenes where he involuntarily convulses, laughs at inappropriate times, and throws the full-on entirety of the histrionic book at the audience and his fellow actors--sometimes all at the same time.  You can either shift uncomfortably in your seat, or sit back and laugh yourself silly at all the lunacy on display here (I chose the latter, and I stand by my decision).  It's seriously hard to beat these scenes for pure entertainment value.  A friend of mine said that Nicolas Cage isn't playing Ghost Rider, but the reverse: Ghost Rider is playing Nicolas Cage, to a tee.  After you see the scenes I've described, it won't be hard to agree.

The action sequences are fun, though.  Whenever Ghost Rider makes an appearance, you know there's going to be plenty of fun with flames, and this is used to amusing effect when he rides two different vehicles other than his flaming motorcycle at various times.  The penance stare--one of Ghost Rider's trademarked abilities in the comics--is both underused and poorly explained in this film, which is a little sad.  He does use fire, chains, and an extremely superhuman tolerance for pain to make up for it, and it makes for some alternately amusing and bad-ass moments in the story.

I'm laughing at my flaming skeleton hand, lady.  And your
injured kid.  Funny, right?  Stop looking at me like that!!!

Overall, if you're just dying to go see a comic book movie, this might hold you over while you wait for the real feasts for later this year--namely The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Dark Knight Rises.  Don't go in expecting anything more than a mindless action flick with little more than aspirations of dark fantasy, though.  If you can handle that, then this movie may well entertain you for a couple hours.  If you're expecting a serious, "good" comic book movie, though, you'd best wait for the later stuff.  I'm thinking this film stands a far less chance than they do of satisfying that particular appetite.  Recommended, with reservations.

Five Comic Book Movies Coming Out In 2012

Since today was the Super Bowl, traditionally a huge day for new comic book movie trailers (though not so much this year), I thought I'd go ahead and give my two cents on which comic book movies scheduled for release this year will likely get my filmgoing dollars.

I'm  generally pretty picky about when I go to see movies.  They either have to be from a franchise or mythology that I have affection for (think Harry Potter, Transformers, Spider-Man, the Muppets, etc.), or they have to be extremely imaginative, well-marketed, or recommended to me by people I trust (The Social Network, Avatar, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [at the time] fit this category for me).  Comic book movies generally fall into the first category for me, but even then it's not always a guarantee that I'll go see it.  I didn't, for example, see Daredevil in the theaters, thank goodness, and I've yet to watch either of the Fantastic Four movies at all.

Five fairly big movies are due out this year, though whether or not they all qualify as comic book movies is up for debate.  It seems like overall it'll be a pretty good year for comic book movies--particularly comic book movies that feature women in black leather.  I'll elaborate below:

• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance--This one comes out in less than two weeks, and I have to say, it looks to be the least promising of the bunch.  Granted, it seems considerably darker and more serious in tone than its cheesy predecessor, but there are a few moments from the trailers that just look contrived, juvenile, or just plain bad.  Still, I rather did enjoy the first Ghost Rider, so I may give this one a shot despite my misgivings.  At the very least, I'll have plenty of words for the review if it's bad.

Scarlet Johansen in black leather?
Check!

• The Avengers--The only thing that would keep me from seeing this as soon as it releases would have to be a serious medical condition.  Seriously.  I've known--known, this was coming since I stayed behind after the end of Iron Man and saw the post-credits scene in 2008.  Iron Man?  Check.  Hulk?  Not the same actor, but check.  Thor?  Check.  Captain America?  Check.  Plenty of cameos tying their films together to create a unified cinematic universe?  Check.  Awesome writer, creator, comic book fanboy Joss Whedon directing?  Check.  Big, titanic, unknown threat to Earth requiring the formation of a team of heroes who otherwise probably shouldn't be working together?  Check.  This promises to be a superhero team movie extravaganza, and it looks like it will deliver the goods in spades at this point.  It was already a foregone conclusion that plenty of comic book nerds were going to check this one out, but with the premier of today's trailer during the SuperBowl, you can be sure that plenty of others will be joining them in lining up to see this one when it opens in about three months.

• G.I. Joe: Retaliation--Okay, a few things here.  First of all, calling G.I. Joe a comic book franchise is a shaky move, at best.  I remember it as a toy and a cartoon before a comic.  Granted, I wasn't reading comics at the time the cartoon came out, but clearly it existed as a toy line long before that.  Still, it had a significant run as a comic book series, so I suppose I'll give it a pass for that reason.  The next issue is the lackluster performance of the last G.I. Joe film, The Rise of Cobra.  Honestly, aside from watching Snake Eyes's action scenes, I was thoroughly disappointed.  With all of that said, however, I will also say that the trailers for this one look promising, as does the basic premise, in which they're framed and all but a few are killed, then must fight back on their own.  Will it get me into the theaters?  I'm not sure yet.  I'll probably wait to hear some initial reviews and make the call then, but at this point, I'm slightly leaning to yes... barely.

• The Amazing Spider-Man--Anyone who knows me has a pretty good idea that I'll see this one.  I'm a pretty big fan of all things Spider-Man, and thought the previous film franchise was pretty good.  This is a reboot, where they start from scratch again, and it looks like they're going to incorporate story elements that were hardly even considered in the first set of films--most notably the use of Gwen Stacey as a major character.  Its tone appears more subdued and dark than the previous movies as well, which I really like.  Oh, and last but not least, it looks like the Lizard is the main villain in this film--one of Spidey's oldest and, pound for pound, most dangerous foes.  You can bet I'll be in the theaters for this one.

Anne Hathaway in black leather?  Check!

• The Dark Knight Rises--Okay, first of all, if you haven't seen the first two Batman films done by Christopher Nolan, I'm forced to question your competence as a living being.  Seriously, like them or not (and there are people who don't like them), they put an important spin on the Batman mythology that continues to influence the comics every bit as much as they were influenced by them in their creation.  The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final story within this franchise.  Will the brutal new villain Bane break Batman, or worse, eight years after the events of the second movie?   Internal and external conflict abound in this film, and it sets up a mood that suggests that perhaps not everyone who used to be in Bruce's corner is necessarily there anymore.  The realism and premise of this franchise absolutely guarantees that I'll be in the theaters to see how this all plays out, possibly at a midnight premier showing.  Given the popularity of Nolan's work with these films thus far, you can bet I won't be the only one there.