Ghost Rider

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Ghost Rider: Spirit of
Vengeance: Film Review
2:16 AM PST 2/17/2012 by John Defore
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The Bottom Line
A few lively moments don't justify this
superhero sequel
Opens
Feb. 17 (Columbia
Pictures)
Directors
Mark Neveldine, Brian
Taylor
Cast
Whatever Happened to
Ted Turner?
Nicolas Cage, Ciaran
Hinds, Violante Placido,
Idris Elba, Johnny
Whitworth, Fergus
Riordan
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
This water-treading sequel offers just enough kooky
color to keep less-discerning fans occupied.
A water-treading sequel offering just enough kooky color to keep less-discerning funnybook fans
occupied, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance nudges its obscure hero's mythology forward a bit
without seeming to care much how it gets there. Its modest box-office prospects are helped by the
absence of other superhero competitors during the next couple of weeks.
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Returning as the eponymous not-quite-hero, Nicolas
Cage spends stretches of the film on autopilot while waiting for
scenes he deems worthy of his particular brand of crazy. They're
not frequent enough to please the Cage aficionado, but
sequences in which the twitchy, inappropriately giddy actor tries
to choke back transformations into a bloodthirsty skeleton-onfire are welcome in a film where often-charismatic co-stars
Ciaran Hinds and Idris Elba are singing off-key.
Cage's Johnny Blaze hates being saddled with his super-powered
alter ego, and Spirit of Vengeance gives him a chance, a la
Superman II, to unburden himself: A French motorcycle-riding
monk (Elba, wearing unfortunate green contact lenses) offers to
lift the curse if only Blaze will rescue a boy being pursued by the
devil. It seems the boy, Danny (Fergus Riordan), is actually
the spawn of the dark lord's Earthly incarnation (Hinds' Roarke,
the trickster responsible for Blaze's curse), and is now meant to be possessed by Daddy for good.
New 'Ghost Rider:
Spirit of
Vengeance' Trailer
Hits the Web
(Video)
Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor enjoy some of the oddball moments in Ghost Rider's
battles with various generic villains -- they can't bring the flaming skeleton head to life, but shots of its
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gaping maw taunting evildoers have a quirky funhouse quality, and somebody in a digital FX house
should get a bonus for the bubbling tar on Ghost Rider's motorcycle jacket. But the actual action
surrounding these moments is sometimes incoherent, especially an extravagantly murky showdown
involving a mammoth piece of construction equipment, and the plot tying one confrontation to the
next is anything but on fire.
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If the screenplay is stale and contrived (Elba's monk knows everything about everything but can't
guess the one twist no viewer will fail to foresee), the picture benefits from some eye-candy settings in
Turkey and Romania -- which is not to say that this scenery is well served by Brandon Trost's
photography or the limp 3D effects.
C hristian
Opens: Feb. 17 (Columbia Pictures)
Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ,
Marvel Knights
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Fergus Riordan
Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Screenwriters: Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman, David S. Goyer
Producers: Ashok Amritraj, Ari Arad, Avi Arad, Michael De Luca, Steven Paul
Executive producer: Gary Foster, David S. Goyer, Mark Steven Johnson, E. Bennett Walsh
Director of photography: Brandon Trost
Production designer: Kevin Phipps
Music: David Sardy
Costume designer: Bojana Nikitovic
Editor: Brian Berdan
PG-13, 95 minutes
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1 week ago
Eternityb4u
Why does it seem that the character that is the most unbelievable to you just happens to be the
one played by Idris Elba? The character just happens to have green eyes. My cousin has green
eyes, is he an abomination? Oh, I forget though, hollywood and its critics only like certain actors
at a time.
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I'm guessing they mean the green eyes don't look REAL, but then I'm also guessing you're a
stone cold idiot, so let's call it a wash.
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1 week ago
Daniel Dudley
This film is better than most critics give it credit for. It's not going to be a well recieved as
Batman because Batman is a more well known, more told hero, thus people know it more and
he's far less fantastic and mystical than Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider has normally been unknown to
the generaly public. The first Ghost Rider taking it as it was, a "Origin Story" mixed with "Save
the world" was a decent enough film. Batman is simpler because his stakes are never so high, he
cannot save the world he's a man with gadgets, thus things cannot get out of hand script wise.
But this takes the first film and enhances it, better effects, similar acting if not a tad better, a
better Rider, far more violent action which is above and beyond what the first did. And true the
story is a no brainer, it's a simple "Save the child = Save the world" and frankly it's done well. I
can say I'm proud I watched this film, I waited and prayed for a great Sequel and I'm happy to
say I was NOT dissapointed.
2 people liked this.
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4 days ago
i heartily agree with you i for one enjoyed the original ghost rider but i found that cage in
the original just seemed like an adverage hero never truly showing enough character for
the character he was given but in this one he seemed trult on the edge and completely
insane which made the character seem deeper as with the crazy scenes he could show more
emotion. the film on the whole i quite enjoyed as in my opinion it was a good fun action film
i especially liked the scene where he was given his powers back! i wish they had used the
original theme tune as i really liked the original music as the creepy and eerie theme was
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very well done although i did also enjoy this movie's soundtrack all i seem to see on the net
is bad reviews but i proclaim I ENJOYED IT!
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1 week ago
Griff Griffis
GhostRider2 was a miraculous piece of film making. It managed to make the first Ghost Rider
look competent.
2 people liked this.
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1 week ago
Tjeffson
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I just hope these 2 directors are run out of Hollywood and banned from ever directing or
working on another movie again.
1 person liked this.
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1 week ago
Mtrotphoto
I think they were run out because it was filmed in Turkey and Romainia
LIKE REPLY
1 week ago
Mtrotphoto
sorry you must have been on crack
LIKE REPLY
1 week ago
J Rdavis67
This movie sucks what the hell did they do: they killed it
1 person liked this.
Tjeffson
LIKE REPLY
1 week ago
And that's putting it mildly. It shouldn't even have been made for dvd let alone theaters.
Cage ruined this whole genre.
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One Fan
1 week ago
The film is just ok.. Overall you would be disappointed to see this movie, especially if you're
Nicolas Cage fan.
Professional Dissertation Writers
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