Friday 24 February 2012

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Review



After the first Ghost Rider film was savaged by critics, the producers decided to hand the sequel over to directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor best know for the Crank films and Gamer with the hope that they would inject some life into what could become a moribund franchise. I was reasonably entertained by the first film. I didn't hate it nor did I love it, so I went into Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance expecting nothing more than to be entertained, but this is a film so terrible it almost made me stop watching films altogether. It is so hard to believe that a story with so much potential could be fucked up this badly. I really hated this film! If this is the best Hollywood has to offer, then I never want to watch another film. I have not been so annoyed the the incompetence of the film making on display since M. Night Shyamalan's bastardization of The Last Airbender. (The worst film I have ever seen in my life.)

The problem with both Ghost Rider films, but particularly Spirit of Vengeance is that the audience really does not give a shit about the central character Johnny Blaze. Spider-man and Superman work as films because the audience are invested in the characters of Peter Parker and Clark Kent, but Nicholas Cage does not inject any personality into the role of Johnny Blaze, which makes the film a really, really long slog even though it only has a 95 minute running time. Cage also seems to be the only member of the cast to know that he is making a comedy, 90% of the film he is plodding his way though the lame, stilted dialogue. The other 10% he is going ape shit, screaming like a banshee in peoples face. The real travesty of this sequel is that even the scenes with Ghost Rider are boring as shit, all because Ghost Rider does absolutely nothing in his scenes, other than stand still and stare at people.

Neveldine and Taylor have a very kinetic film-making style and operate the camera as well as direct which make their films both visually interesting and very original due to there strange camera placements. The majority of the scenes in this film are incomprehensible due to the ridiculously quick cuts, shaky camera-work and 3D. The 3D itself is not bad, but the shaky cam effect means that  you cannot see a fucking thing throughout the entire film. This is more evident in the action scenes as there is no sense of location or focus to any of these scenes.

[Spoilers Below]

The plot makes absolutely no sense what so ever. From what I can make out, the devil  has a son and he wants possession of the kid and for some reason a load of weird priests want possession of the same young boy. Ghost Rider has to deliver the kid to a church in the desert and as a reward he will be cured of his curse. However the way the film presents such a basic plot is so convoluted and poor, that after about 20 minutes you realize that the plot is not going anywhere and has been completely forgotten by the filmmakers.

Another thing that pissed me off about this film is that the filmmakers think that they are making a film that is funny. It isn't. every single 'joke' in the film falls flat, especially the shot in the trailer of Ghost Rider pissing fire and then giving a thumbs up to the camera. It was not just me who didn't laugh, the entire audience of about 50 people did not make a single noise throughout the film. The only audible noises I heard were embarrassed laughter towards the end when Ghost Rider raises a woman from the dead for no reason. I honestly considered walking out of the screen after about 45 minutes, but didn't. Bad choice on my part.

Normally when I review a film, I try to think of at least one positive thing to say about the film. The only positive I can give to this steaming pile of shite is that the visual effects do not look bad, also there are 2 cool shots of Ghost Rider. And that is about it!

In short, Fuck this film. Do NOT pay to see it because Neveldine and Taylor are in talks to make another Ghost Rider film, however this will not happen if this film flops. There is nothing to enjoy here and I can honestly say, hand on heart, it is one of the worst films I have ever seen at the cinema and a colossal waste of my time. (Not quite as bad as The Last Airbender though!)

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

1 / 10

I loathed it!

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