This time around, Cage himself plays both Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider, an asset that adds an entirely new dimension to the physicality of the Rider. The Rider himself now looks incredible, with a much more realistic (as realistic as a flaming skull can look) and threatening appearance, obliterating everyone in his path with total abandon. Slight concerns about the budget-friendly backdrops of Eastern Europe are waylaid by all the money being poured into some fantastic visual effects. Gone are the other safe conventions of the first film, as Spirit rattles through proceedings at breakneck speed, working in some genuinely exciting set pieces, mostly involving things being set on fire in a way that I didn’t expect to be quite so exhilarating, with a finale that reminded me of Mad Max 2 in the best way. Neveldine and Taylor manage to inject a few of their trademark narrative devices to great effect, using a style that seems fresh and seamless rather than gimmicky and jarring, as can so often be the case. SOV starts as it means to end, with a flurry of over the top action, the appearance of some Geek favourites, including Idris Elba, before quickly moving on to a familiar plot – the devil wants a youthful body to transfer his soul into, and only one man can stop him.įor those worried that SOV was going to be another tired reboot of the origin story, the only fresh take on that material is quickly dealt with via an animated opening sequence, showing that the Devil Rourke is now played by the great Ciarán Hinds and that Johnny Blaze signed the contract via crushed broken glass – that’s about it. Regardless, any opinion on the first Rider shouldn’t influence your feelings towards Spirit Of Vengeance, as the two films are barely comparable. Whenever such opinions become so widespread, I can only wonder how many people have watched the likes of Ice Spiders or Species 3 – now those films are genuinely terrible. A recent re-watch of the first Ghost Rider film proved it to be better than I remembered, serving as a perfectly fine example of an enjoyable film that, much like Green Lantern, suffered from a slurry of unfair abuse that decried it as the worse thing ever – such is the beauty of the internet.
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