Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

I knew when I decided to plunk down my money to see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance that I was wasting it. I knew it without a doubt. What I didn’t know, couldn’t know was just how bad it would be. Now first I should admit something mildly embarrassing: I enjoyed the first Ghost Rider movie. I saw it with my brother (we never see anything but comic book movies because that’s what he’s into). It wasn’t much but it was still leaps and bounds better than Spirit of Vengeance.

On a happy note, I might have figured out my dislike of 3D. Or at least finally be able to articulate it for you. It’s the sheen that’s all over everything in every screen. Think the movie 300, but much more subtle. It makes everything look less than real. Movies with real people are suddenly turned into something that’s neither real nor truly animated.

Even worse than the plot (which was save the boy the devil wants; a boy who is both the devil’s son and his future vessel) was the…how do I describe them…comic-book-like screen captures. A character would explain something and suddenly the screen would have these not quite still pictures on them. They didn’t add to the movie at all.

There was however three things I did like about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The first is Ciaran Hinds. He plays the devil; he’s always a wonderful villain. You might recognize Hinds as Julius Caesar in the HBO series Rome or as Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I can’t figure out for the life of my how they convinced him to be in such a steaming pile. The second good thing about Spirit of Vengeance was Christopher Lambert. The original Highlander has a cameo as a fanatical pries with writing all over his face. Lambert, no stranger to crappy movies, (anyone seen Mortal Combat?) makes the best of his less than five minutes of screen time. The third and final good thing about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is that at the end of the movie his flames become blue. This is because he can now feel the fallen angel that the devil drove crazy and turned into his slave, pimping him out as the Rider. Comic book purists tell me that this is a complete divergence from the Ghost Rider’s story, and that tells me one important thing. This was the last Ghost Rider movie. Or at least it should be.

If you like crappy movies or you’re a Nicholas Cage apologist, go ahead and see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. If you put your expectations below rock bottom, it’s possible, although not plausible, you won’t be disappointed. But be warned, that money would be better off burned.

 

And that’s my 2¢ for today.

~ by leslies2cents on March 7, 2012.