Fridae

I was one of those who felt the first Ghost Rider movie wasn't that bad in the sense that it knew what genre it really was in its bones: the character of Ghost Rider is pretty much a Western anti-hero: a man doomed to violence and attracted to violence, destined never to find true love as a result. It only fouled up with the third act and the appearance of the underwhelming Wes Bentley. But Sam Elliott and Peter Fonda, no strangers to Westerns in either case, were the parts that worked in an otherwise average film under the otherwise mediocre Mark Steven Johnson.

The sequel alas, is almost a reboot rather than a sequel. Whole scenes from the original are rewritten, with key characters, plot points, and world-building changed. Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, a former stuntman who sold his soul to save his father's life, is now hiding out in Eastern Europe to ensure the terrible curse that has been placed on him to transform into an avenging, near-invincible spirit of a vigilante called Ghost Rider will harm as little as possible. It is here he meets mother and son confidence artists Nadia and Danny (Violante Placido, Fergus Riordan), who are on the run from mercenary Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), an old flame of Nadia's, who is backed by Satan (Ciaran Hinds). Turns out Danny is in fact the vessel for Satan's plan of world conquest as he is the Antichrist after Satan pulled his own immaculate conception on her. Fortunately they have an ally in badass priest Moreau (Idris Elba), a wine-loving, gun-toting clergyman on a mission from God.

Directed by Taylor and Neveldine, fresh off the Crank films, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is loud and obnoxious, but with a few moments of charm and some nice visuals. The film is sprinkled with the team's trademark humour, which mostly consists of characters making deadpan genre-savvy observations that break the fourth wall, some incidental instances of satire, and even some instances of fourth wall-breakage, and a few cute but rather redundant animated sequences and montages.

The character of Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze has little to make him that interesting, given we know that he is nearly unkillable by most human means. The invincible Western anti-hero is generally surrounded and aided by some interesting characters or faces off foes that are almost as invincible and probably quirkier. None of those are to be found here. Violante Placido is pretty, but nearly forgettable. As her son, Fergus Riordan fares better, given the character is one of the less typical movie kids in recent years. As villain Carrigan, Johnny Whitworth has one or two nice gags but basically spends the film looking like a poor man's Kurt Russell. Ciaran Hinds as Satan walks around with an unflatteringly distorted face that is later explained in the film, but in no way does he come close to Peter Fonda's portrayal in the original. Idris Elba though, is a lot of fun to watch as always. Christopher Lambert is welcome in an extended cameo looking like Hoichi the Earless from Kobayashi's Kwaidan.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is worth a rental or an evening with inebriated buddies but not much else. A Taylor/Neveldine fan might still have a blast though.