Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Cheese.

Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance.


When I was a kid I would go rent movies at Video 99 – a video store that had a great selection of weird movies. At the time that meant, Kung Fu, Horror, Fantasy, Exploitation etc. And if I had rented Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance at that time I would have loved it and said “Boy, they should make a big budget Hollywood version of Ghost Rider.” Too bad, THIS IS the big budget version.


The movie is ok as a popcorn action flick, but when it comes to being good GR movie, there is a lot wrong with it. Example, cheesey comedy. GR talks about how the devil takes different human forms on Earth. They then show a montage of evil men in history, Gacy, Hitler etc, but they end the list with a picture of Jerry Springer. Ok, was that supposed to be funny? Why is there Saturday Night Live style comedy in this movie? Then GR at one point, spins himself around in mid-air like a “spin the bottle” game and points out his next victim. Why is GR being so silly? Just destroy these punks and be done with it.


Plus, like the first film, GR defeats guys too easily. The end battle with Satan (called Roarke here?) is much too fast and I thought that he would return as a giant monster or something, and that didn’t happen (I have been watching too many Cannon films I guess).


I am baffled as to why they cannot make a really good GR movie? Look at Blade 1 and 2, Hellboy 1 and 2 and see what happens when you take a dark character and make a good movie out of him. They need to make GR borderline horror, and give him some really badass villains to fight!


That being said, as a B-picture popcorn flick it’s fun. It doesn’t drag on, it has a cool action scene in the end, and GR himself, looks amazing! That’s what I don’t get. GR looks so wicked and he kicks ass, but yet they cannot seem to do the character justice! Usually I get mad because the character sucks, or doesn’t look like what he’s supposed to, but in this case, he looks amazing (I miss the spikes though) and sinister, but the story doesn’t support him! They even had a cool idea that whatever GR rides in becomes a fiery vehicle, like his bike. At one point he takes control of a construction crane and it turns into a flaming crane! Wicked! But then the spin the bottle part came and all that was kind of lost. There are numerous examples of this throughout the film.


If you want a fun movie, then see it, if you want a serious good Ghost Rider movie, then skip it and read the comics.


3/5


J-Man.