Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Release Date: February 17, 2012

Ghost Rider is back for another go with Spirit of Vengeance. This film is notable in that it’s a rather awkward not-quite-sequel, not-quite-reboot. Nicolas Cage reprises the role of Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider, but the film doesn’t really follow up on the previous one, and even contradicts it at times.

A young boy named Danny, and his mother whom I will refer to as Rosemary are running away from Rosemary’s ex-boyfriend Carrigan, who goes beyond the douchebag waster boyfriend stereotype by being a Satanist drug and weapons dealer. As you do. Carrigan leads a group of the Devil’s soldiers on an attack of a castle where Danny and Rosemary are hiding. The two manage to escape, but the monks are killed. The only survivor, the alcoholic Moreau, recruits Ghost Rider to help get the boy to safety with another group of monks. He says if Ghost Rider does this, the monks will turn him back to normal.

Ghost Rider finds Danny and kills Carrigan’s goons, but then gets shot with a rocket launcher at point blank range. Carrigan escapes with Danny, and Rosemary reluctantly lets Ghost Rider and Moreau help her get Danny back. Meanwhile, Carrigan tells his boss Roarke (who is retconned as having turned Johnny Blaze into Ghost Rider, though he is implied to be Mephisto in disguise) that Ghost Rider can sense Danny, so Roarke whispers “Hail HYDRA” in Danny’s ear. This makes Danny undetectable. Unfortunately for Roarke, he should have whispered the stronger incantation “This is my swamp” to block Carrigan too. That oversight lets Ghost Rider save Danny and kill Carrigan. So, that’s that, right?

Not quite, the film’s only halfway through after all. Roarke revives Carrigan as the demon Blackout, who decays everything he touches, except steering wheels. And chairs. And doors. And his clothes. And the ground he stands on. I think I’m overthinking this, so I’ll move on. Ghost Rider gets Danny to Moreau’s other monks, led by Connor MacLeod/Raiden (Delete as appropriate), and turns Ghost Rider back to normal as promised. Unfortunately, as soon as Johnny Blaze returns, Connor/Raiden decides to kill Danny so that the Devil can’t have him. Honestly, Moreau should have seen this coming, as people in robes with writing all over their faces score at least an 8 on the Evil-O-Meter. Blackout arrives, takes Danny back and kills all the monks.

Our heroes follow the bad guys to Roarke’s evil lair, where he is in the middle of a ritual to take Danny, who is the Antichrist, as his new body and cause Hell on Earth. Kinda like what Blackheart Wiseau did, but with more being inside a 10 year old boy’s body. Johnny realises that this means Danny has all the powers of his dad, and tells Danny to turn him back into Ghost Rider. Danny finds memories of Johnny’s past life as Big Daddy, a vigilante who fought crime alongside his daughter before being burned alive by the Mob. These memories bring back Ghost Rider with more powerful blue fire, and he kills all the bad guys, except for Roarke and Blackout, who run away with Danny in tow. Ghost Rider follows, and Blackout gets run over by a truck. “Roadkill” Ghost Rider quips.

Ghost Rider makes Roarke’s car crash, then chain-suplexes him through the center of the earth back to Hell, which is pretty damn cool. Not quite as cool as squashing someone under a finger the size of a planet, but it’s certainly up there. Ghost Rider screams his song of triumph, but then finds out Danny died when Roarke’s car crashed. Whoops. Just as Rosemary gets ready to shout at Ghost Rider, he uses his blue fire to revive Danny. Ghost Rider then realises that, having turned back into Ghost Rider about 15 minutes after returning to normal, he wasted his wish, and he kicks himself since the monks are all dead, so he can’t ask them for a nacho hat instead.

Of all the films that have come up thus far, this one is probably the oddest, and since we’re nearing the end now, I don’t see much left to dethrone it. On one hand, Spirit of Vengeance is more gruesome and serious than the previous film, but on the other hand, it’s much sillier. There’s a tonal war between the two extremes. It’s mentioned that Ghost Rider is increasingly struggling to control his powers and eating souls for petty reasons, but it’s hard to take that seriously when it’s shown as Nicolas Cage alternating between screaming his lines and singing them. On the same note, Ghost Rider twitching about is less scary and more silly, like he’s humming his favourite song in his head. Ghost Rider’s new design leans towards the serious side, as this time his clothes and skull look tattered and burnt, which is an improvement on the glossy plastic look from last time.

The plot is rather similar to Elektra, and by rather similar, I mean almost identical to the point of plagiarism. I’m not going to hold it against the film, because it avoids Elektra’s biggest pitfall, taking itself too seriously. While the tonal clash remains, there is enough silliness to indicate that at least some of it was intentional in the sense of aiming for so bad it’s good, like the hell crane of doom, Ghost Rider spinning round in the air (right round like a record, baby) or Ghost Rider peeing fire, which is still more sensible than when Nightmare on Elm Street did it.

The villain is better this time as well. Even before becoming a demon with the power of decay, Carrigan is able to put up quite a fight against Ghost Rider as a mere mortal. He is also sufficiently douchey for us to believe that he actually poses a threat, which is more than could be said for Blackheart. He came off as a moody teenager throwing a temper tantrum and choosing to cause hell on earth instead of locking himself in his room writing depressing poetry on Deviant Art while listening to Evanescence.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is guilty of trying to have its cake and eat it too. One does not simply try to be so bad it’s good and taken seriously at the same time, and the film would have been better off choosing one approach and sticking with it. Having said that, there is something to be admired for swinging for the fences and going balls-out crazy over playing it safe like the bland original.

Next Time: It all comes together.

Bonus: The film rights to Ghost Rider reverted to Marvel in May 2013, but there are no plans to bring him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future, since they’re booked solid through to the end of the decade. Ghost Rider for Marvel Phase 4 in 2022, anyone?