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Something you'll notice if you read any of these reviews is that a good portion of the 'bad' reviews compare this movie to the first Ghost Rider movie. Well, I have a problem with that. I have been a long time fan of the Ghost Rider going back to the Original 70's comics. The first movie which purports to give us the origin of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider has next to nothing to do with the source material at all. The first movie turned Johnny Blaze into a goofball who eats Jelly Beans out of a martini glass and keeps the powers of the Ghost Rider against the will of the Devil. If you like that then you are no fan of the Ghost Rider.
Johnny Blaze was a hard drinking, tortured soul who was tricked by the 'devil' and turned into the Ghost Rider against his will. He spent the entire run of the original comic series doing everything he could to be freed from his curse. Johnny Blaze doesn't listen to the Carpenters. Johnny Blaze doesn't watch TV specials about monkeys. He's not got time for that crap.
This movie, while it does have it's own problems, plays closer to the 'real' Ghost Rider in every way. Blaze fights the demon for control constantly. He seeks an escape from the Spirit of Vengeance at every turn, but he uses the Ghost Rider to his advantage at times. THIS is the spirit of the original book brought to life. Not the campy crap-fest that the first movie was. While the writers did take some creative licence with characters, parts of the origin, and pretty much completely ignore the first film (thank god), they build a rider that is much more like the one we see in the pages of the Ghost Rider comics. This movie brings us a darker, more menacing Ghost Rider. When the Rider is on screen, he's unsettling. He revels in the destruction and death going on around him. He laughs maniacally as he uses massive mining machines infused with hell-fire to destroy his enemies, and toys with them like a cat would a wounded mouse...
The 'enemies' of the rider in the first film were epic emo-fairy failures. They are easily dispatched and offer no real challenge for the Rider. Well, the same can be said about this movie, but at least here they are outmatched by the rider because they are mere mortals facing off against a demon/angel of vengeance/justice. When the 'heavies' show up in the form of Blackout and finally the Devil, they aren't much of a challenge either, but then again they put up a better fight than the ones in the first film.
Blackout is not the Blackout from the comic, but here he is realized better than most comic book movie villains. He puts up a fight but there's never really much danger for the Ghost Rider from any of the bad guys.
Where this film falls apart is that the story is at times confusing, Cage often jumps into 'Crazy Cage' mode and ruins some scenes, and a lot of the dialog is just silly. Where it succeeds is the Crank-style mayhem that is unleashed whenever there is action going on, the visual effects of the Rider are ramped up and embrace the dark side of the Character. The Flaming Skull in this go around is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than in the first. In every way possible the Rider is BETTER rendered here in character and appearance.
See this if you are a fan of the Ghost Rider and not the first Movie that tried to make the Ghost Rider into a Spiderman style super-hero. THIS is the heart of the Ghost Rider. Dark, Gritty, Campy and FUN! Now if they would just ditch Cage and get a decent writer to give a third movie a go...
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Think of this movie as a reboot and not a sequel, first off. It is much closer to the comic than it's predecessor, but the cinematography is terrible as is the acting. Absoultly horrible. One scene you get Johnny Blaze trying to fight off being the Ghost Rider which was absolutely hysterical, only to crash his bike......seriously. Why Europe? His main weapon, Penence Stare looks more like a love scene......in fact I am wondering if it worked at all.....then the the meeting with the gent who know where to find one of the principle bad guys is at some weird gathering where it looked like a MMA smack down......against a pig......seriously. Rent/Borrow the movie and save your cash. It is very apparent that Hollywood will not do Ghost Rider any justice at all, just like ruining Punisher......sorry to say.Best Deals for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2012)
When I first saw the trailer for this movie I really wanted to see it, but after so many bad reviews came out I decided not to see it in theaters, although I had a feeling I personally wouldn't mind what people were complaining about. Now it has shown up on PSN almost 2 weeks early and I still had some money in my account so I bought it for $5 and decided if I didn't like it oh well, it didn't really cost me anything.Now after seeing it I have to admit I personally loved it. It had exactly what I wanted, a lot of action and it was fast paced and to me the Ghost Rider was a lot creepier in this movie than in the first. I get why people complained about the acting, I personally only had a problem with Ciaran Hinds who played the devil. His character was very corny, but Nicolas Cage's acting reminded me a lot of how he performed in Face Off which again did not personally bother me. I also agree the kid he is protecting and his mother were not interesting characters but I was glad not only was she not a love interest but the Ghost Rider wanted to kill her, interesting take on the female character in this movie.
I hope as this comes out on video more people see it and enjoy it as much as I did. as I stated I do understand the critisizms but if you just watch it for an enjoyable action movie and some interesting humor it is pretty good. Also I do have to agree if you try to compare this to the first movie you will be very dissappointed..or perhaps relieved that it is different, depending on your opinion of the first Ghost Rider movie.
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