Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - (February 17th, 2012): PG-13
Distributor: Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures)
Opening Weekend Box Office: #3 with $22,000,000
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $22,000,000
Gross Revenue: $22,000,000
Production Budget: $57 million
Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Alright, let’s clear the air right now, 2007’s Ghost Rider was a terrible movie in almost every way imaginable; that being said, I still enjoyed the ludicrously subpar entertainment, but I prayed that studios would never again subject audiences to what was declared the worst superhero film of the decade. When I first learned that Columbia Pictures would be resurrecting the project with a 3D sequel released almost five years to the date of the original, I couldn’t fathom the logic behind the decision; but there were a number of factors that could prevent this newest superhero film from committing box office suicide. Once one of the top A-listers in Hollywood, Nicolas Cage has made consistently lousy film choices over the past few years, but other filmmaking elements seemed to add some hope for the quality of Spirit of Vengeance. As the second film released under the Marvel Knights banner (a subset of Marvel Studios that aims for a grittier and darker superhero story), Spirit of Vengeance would hopefully steer away from the hokey focus that plagued the original; and maybe directors Neveldine/Taylor (Crank and Crank: High Voltage) would bring just enough of their crazy filmmaking style to the fore to rejuvenate the mistaken antihero. 3D glasses in hand and determined to prove to myself and other naysayers that the character could be translated from comic book page to silver screen successfully, I was ready to see and review Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Time for some character background: Within the Marvel Comics Universe, there exists a supernatural entity that once known as the Spirit of Justice that was corrupted by The Devil into becoming the Spirit of Vengeance…The Devil attaches this spirit to a human host to act as his bounty hunter, turning the host into the Ghost Rider in order to punish evil. In 2007’s Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) made a deal with The Devil to sell his soul in exchange for his father’s life, and The Devil turned Blaze into the Ghost Rider, who transforms in the presence of evil, has superhuman strength and healing, and the ability to manipulate hellfire. Spirit of Vengeance picks up the story in Eastern Europe, where Blaze is living in isolation and still struggling with his curse, but is soon sought out by a warrior priest, known only as Moreau (Idris Elba), for a special assignment. Blaze is told to locate and deliver a special child and his mother, who are being chased by ruthless bounty hunter Ray Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), to the safety of a monastery, and in exchange, Blaze’s soul will be purified and the Ghost Rider curse lifted. Things get infinitely more complicated when it is revealed that the boy is actually the demonic spawn of The Devil (Ciarán Hinds) himself, who took human form and conceived the child after the mother (Violante Placido) sold her soul. If The Devil gets his hands on the boy, he intends to transform the child into the Antichrist and set forth the Apocalypse; so Johnny must embrace his inner-demon and use his curse to effectively save humanity.
As hard as it may be to believe, there are actually a number of positive elements that make Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance the kind of trashy fun that the original failed miserably in trying to achieve. First and foremost, Ghost Rider in himself is a pretty badass character that belongs nowhere near the mainstream, and the film recognizes and exploits this fact by simplifying things and focusing on the cool and brutal action that was negated in the original in favor of focusing on Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze. Thankfully, this time around, Cage was subdued enough for more focus to be placed on the supporting characters, and beyond the sinister Ciarán Hinds and the amusing Idris Elba, I was most entertained by Johnny Whitworth, who clearly had fun bringing an evil persona to life and was more than enough to be a genuinely threatening villain who still delivered one of the best jokes I have seen within a movie in years. The direction also gives the film a distinct comic book feel, creating a chaotic pacing and style that works surprisingly well in keeping energy levels high and genuine tension present during the central conflict. Add in some clever humor and impressive special effects, and I think even the most skeptical of comic book fans will enjoy Spirit of Vengeance.
Now, while the positive spin I have awarded to this sequel thus far might have you believe that Spirit of Vengeance may be a great film, please note that a majority of the accolades I pointed out are simply comparisons to the first movie. As a standalone project, Spirit of Vengeance was clearly made for fans of the titular character alone and no one else…and trust me, it is understandably small market that would derive pleasure from watching a biker with a flaming skull use a chain to reduce demons and gun-runners to ash. Even the fans themselves are forced to sit through some shockingly bad jokes puns, whether that involved Johnny Blaze describing urinating in his demonic form as wielding a flamethrower, simply quipping “road kill” when dispatching an enemy, or always responding “hell yes” when replying in the affirmative. Even if you are at your most forgiving related to gaps in logic, I guarantee that there are more than a few moments when you will roll your eyes. It is largely your call…if you are looking for some stupid fun and cool explosions, are a motorcycle enthusiast, or someone who occasionally watches Ghost Rider when it pops up on FX, then you may not find the movie of the year, but you will still enjoy this film.
Given the ridicule and reputation surrounding the original Ghost Rider, I certainly didn’t expect this February sequel to break any records, but analysts still seemed to expect the big budget popcorn flick to appeal to audience recognition and reign supreme over President’s Day weekend. Unfortunately, hold-overs Safe House and The Vow from Valentine’s Day weekend are still drawing crowds and were able to deliver strong enough performances to relegate this franchise entry to third place with an estimated $22 million. Needless to say, Columbia Pictures’ hopes of turning a profit against a $57 million production budget may be a bit of a tall order, but if I’ve learned anything over the years, it is that box office analysis is, at best, an imperfect science. Now, critical reception has been unforgivingly brutal, especially in comparison to the original, but I beg to differ and maintain that Spirit of Vengeance is far better than the current 9% quality gap in approval between films that exists on RottenTomatoes. In the end, the true tragedy is that this sequel illustrates how the Ghost Rider films should have been approached from the beginning, and maybe my credibility wouldn’t have been severely damaged all those years ago.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
