Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Reviews (2012)

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There is a moment in every Nicolas Cage movie that a regular watcher of the man's films looks for. It's what we, of the Cage-ian set, like to refer to as "The Nicolas Cage freakout." It doesn't always appear--typically this is the case in the actor's most unwatchable films--but when that moment does occur, it usually sets in motion a chain reaction that results in more moments just like it, and turns what would otherwise be a fairly ordinary movie into something entertainingly bizarre. It's not that every Nicolas Cage movie needs the Nicolas Cage freakout to succeed, but it's safe to say that any film Cage appears in greatly benefits from this moment. There is a reason people still talk about movies like Deadfall, Vampire's Kiss, and The Wicker Man--and it's not because they're particularly "good" movies.

It takes a solid 25 minutes into Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance for that moment to occur. It's an achingly long period made more so by a feeling of unease with the preceding events. After all, the original Ghost Rider film was nothing short of a disaster (a rare film a Nic Cage freakout couldn't rescue), and the early goings of Spirit of Vengeance, despite boasting the more anarchic filmmaking sensibilities of Crank directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, seem strangely subdued and bereft of anything of interest, outside of a couple of decent slow motion gun battles. The combination of Cage's innate weirdness and Neveldine/Taylor's gonzo directorial style seems on paper like it should be a match made in heaven. And yet for 25 minutes, all we see is a peculiarly subdued Cage slurring his way through dully expository dialogue while the script sets up the most rote, rehashed bit of Satanic lameness this side of...well, the last movie featuring Nicolas Cage to come out around this time of year.

But then it happens. First, as a tease, a moment where Cage, presumably still playing the character of Johnny Blaze (assuming Cage is even trying to play a character here) begins awkwardly flirting with an Eastern European nurse while recovering from a barrage of grenades. It comes kind of out of nowhere, but nicely precedes what may be the single greatest Nic Cage freakout in recent memory. It's a pretty simple interrogation scene, in which any other actor, playing any other character that doesn't have a vengeful skull demon living inside him, would play relatively straight and boring. Here, without spoiling the fun of seeing it for yourself, I will simply say that Cage turns it into some next level shit.

It's by far the best part of a movie that really only has a handful of truly memorable scenes. Admittedly, those scenes are extremely memorable. Perhaps aware that the script, written alternately by Scott Gimple and Seth Hoffman, as well as producer David S. Goyer, is a barely interesting mess, Neveldine and Taylor focus on creating a few truly ludicrous set piece action sequences, as well as a few moments of unexpected comedy for Cage to run wild with. And run wild he does.

Spirit of Vengeance is the sort of movie I typically describe as "watchably terrible." It's an amusement, in spite of its completely unremarkable story. Stop me if you've heard this one before: a Satanic prophecy, in which Satan must capture a young boy (who is, of course, the son of the Devil, born by a human woman played by the lovely, if utterly vacant Violante Placido) in order to perform a ritual on the dawn prior to the Winter Solstice so that he may transfer his essence into the boy's body, and rule supreme over the Earth. Okay, so maybe that exact combination of events hasn't been done before, but the core elements are as reheated as microwaved pizza. Just once, I'd love it if Satan didn't need to kidnap a woman/child in order to break into our plane. Maybe he could just possess a kitten and take over the world through adorable YouTube videos, or something.

The point is, there is no story here worth caring about. The plight of Johnny Blaze as he attempts to rescue this child from the hands of a particularly goofy Satan (Ciaran Hinds, looking like he's having more fun than he ever has in his life) is barely worth acknowledging. The side characters in all of this--including the great Idris Elba as a drunken, fun-loving French priest, and Johnny Whitworth as a sneering contractor of the devil's employ--are given little to do except show up at the right/wrong times in order to keep the story going. There is no reason to care about anything happening in this script.

Thus, it is the combined efforts of the directors and actors that make Spirit of Vengeance fly in any way, shape, or form. Cage, as I've said, is frequently a riot. I commented in my review of Drive Angry last year that I'd hoped for more of the crazed, manic Cage throughout that similarly ridiculous movie, but got little of that. In this regard, Spirit of Vengeance is an improvement. His line readings are off-kilter and bizarre, to the point where you get the impression he might just be making shit up as he goes along. Him and Elba are especially great together, both clearly aware of just how stupid everything they're doing is, and choosing to revel in it. Whitworth and Hinds both have fun with their villain roles, and even Christopher Lambert, making a brief appearance as a heavily tattooed monk of some villainous sect, seems game for the dumb, dumb things transpiring around him.

Much credit is additionally due to Neveldine and Taylor for not just turning Spirit of Vengeance into slapstick superhero comedy, either. Yeah, the movie's frequently a gas, but even amid all that silliness, the pair find a way to make the actual character of Ghost Rider something legitimately threatening and, dare I say it, cool. The first film turned Ghost Rider into a family-friendly cartoon, inexplicably making a guy on a motorcycle with a flaming fucking skull for a head seem utterly tame. Now, when the Ghost Rider comes out, his vengeance finally feels properly horrifying. This being a PG-13 affair, there's little gore, but plenty of people are burned horribly via fairly decent-looking CG fire, and the directors come up with a few legitimately great action scenarios for the Rider to run roughshod over. If there's any negative here, it's that Neveldine and Taylor's shooting style doesn't really work with the 3D treatment the film's been given. If you can, see it in 2D. You won't be missing anything.

I wish the story of Spirit of Vengeance offered up even half as many thrills as the kooky action sequences Neveldine and Taylor pull out of their crazy asses, but even if the plot's a dud, there are enough laughs to be had with Spirit of Vengeance to make it worthwhile--maybe not necessarily in the theaters, but certainly during some marathon movie night in which you watch the most stupidly entertaining superhero movies currently available. (I might suggest lining it up with the original Blade, and perhaps Darkman, or something). Sure, Spirit of Vengeance is pretty much just an aesthetic in desperate search of a plot, but hey, it's a pretty fun aesthetic.