In the first installment of Ghost Rider (2007), WATC(H) #47, I talked a bit about how the road to hell is paved with middle managers. In this Marvel sequel, Ghost Rider 2: The Spirit of Vengeance (2011) the motorhead demonic “retriever of contracts” gains a new skillset and gets promoted to: motorhead demonic retriever of people. He’s basically got a job in HR now.

That’s right. Old fiery skull is now a headhunter, a recruiter, and this time he’s angry about it. 

Disclaimers:

• I watched this movie just after watching the first film a few months ago. So it’s not very fresh in my mind. But I really can’t be bothered to watch it again. So I’m relying on memory and notes for this review. Read accordingly. 
• Much like his animated movies, this movie has much less Cage than I prefer. There are a few good Cage spaz out scenes, but it’s mostly just CGI video game action. For that reason, not my fave. 
• Sequels are usually a bad idea. I did like Cage’s first sequel, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. And this one amped up the action and “darkness” factor a bit, but was it necessary? Probably nah. 

The World According to Johnny Blaze – Take 2!

So we all know the backstory, but just in case you missed the origins, GR2:SOV starts you off with a little animated retelling of how motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze became the Ghost Rider through a shady deal with the devil (Mephisto) to save his dad’s life (which didn’t really happen). We see how he learns to harness the power of the “penance stare” to exile bad guy’s souls to hell. He’s got a bad ass bike. A burning skull for a head and prefers a long chain to a shotgun. We also learn that Johnny has been off in Europe hiding out and trying to keep the Ghost Rider from taking control. 

What’s different in the sequel you may be wondering? Well, there’s no Sam Elliott (the original GR) which is a bummer, but they make up for it by adding a monk named Moreau (played by Idra Elbis) who knows the score. Moreau is looking for a boy named Danny who is being held at some monastery in Romania. Danny is the son of a guy named Roark (played by Ciarán Hinds) who is actually Mephisto (i.e. they replaced Peter Fonda with a newer model here). 

Danny is “special” as he is to be used in a ceremony whereby Mephisto’s soul will be transferred into his body so that “the Devil” can walk the earth and wreak havoc on mortals I guess. Roarke’s men kidnap Danny and Danny’s mom, Nadya (played by Violante Placido) so Moreau has no choice but to seek out the Ghost Rider for assistance.

Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze has stopped drinking jelly beans and dating Eva Mendez (it seems) in favor of drinking hard liquor and taking drugs and is holed up in eastern Europe (by mere coincidence.) Johnny has been seriously dying his hair jet black, he looks ten years older, and he is trying his best to not let the Ghost Rider out of the box. Moreau finds him and convinces him to accept a new deal with better terms. Johnny will use the Ghost Rider and become a headhunter, find Danny before Roarke can do his worst to him. In exchange Moreau will help free Johnny from the spirit of vengeance that powers the Ghost Rider. 

Johnny follows through on this bargain and ends up confronting Roarke’s men and (eventually) frees Nadya and Danny. Much like Jekyll and Hyde, it takes most of Johnny’s strength to prevent the Ghost Rider from putting the penance stare on anyone and everyone he meets. 

What else is different in this sequel?

Johnny takes on his role of “father figure” / mentor, or tries to with Danny. We learn that Johnny can transform any vehicle into a fiery weapon of death including his penis, pickup trucks and earth moving tractors. Which he does to great affect.

We also get a new villain in Nadya’s ex- Ray Carrigan who is transformed by Roarke into Blackout who has the power of invisibility and the ability to decay anything he touches. The Highlander (Christopher Lambert) also makes an cameo as a bald, tattooed ethically questionable priest who wants to kill Danny (sacrifice him) to avoid the Mephisto habitation plan. 

Additionally, we get a little back story on the Spirit of Vengeance inhabiting Johnny. The entity is an angel named Zarathos who was captured by Satan and tortured until he/she/it went insane. Thus Zarathos now has the compulsion to trap souls via the penance stare. Johnny is separated from Zarathos for a while (always annoying when a hero loses their powers IMHO) but is reunited in time to save Danny, beat Blackout, and cast Roarke back to hell using his fiery chain. 

Prime Cage

This sequel wasn’t my favorite, but it did have its moments. Here’s an excellent example of Nicolas Cage playing Johnny who is trying to keep the Ghost Rider “in the box” while also using him as leverage to get something that he wants. 

I also like the scene where we get to see Ghost Rider using his “flame-throwing” abilities.

Some folks may not have liked the CGI in the movie (as this movie’s budget was much less than the original) however I did like the way Blackout looked when using his ability to basically negate all the light around him and create invisibility for himself. Made him very difficult to track down and fight. 

Firsts for Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze

• Trouble getting his demon on
• Peeing a flamethrower
• Getting manhandled by some frail looking monks

Recurrences

• Wrecking every item in his apartment (The Vampire’s Kiss)
• Waking up in dodgy looking hospital / hotel (Matchstick Men, Lord of War)
• Taking on the fatherly role awkwardly (Matchstick Men, The Family Man, The Weather Man, Trespass)
• Taking communion (Face/Off)
• Modified “love touch” with skeleton / angel hand (Face/Off)

Quotes

“It doesn’t matter how far you run, there are some demons you just can’t escape.”

“Let’s just say, good judgment was not exactly my forte.”

“No, I get it. You’re the baby’s devil momma.” 

“I don’t save people.”

“This power we have comes from a dark place. But it’s not who we are.” 

“S’up.”

“Merry Christmas, you assholes!” 

“Go home.” [Yells at Rourke before sending him back to hell.]

Conclusion

Continuing the trend of other Nicolas Cage movies released in 2011, this movie was a bit flat, humdrum, and easily forgettable. Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance is barely worth mentioning in our WATC(H) list. But we did our duty and filed the report with HR.  

Other than the two scenes linked above, I probably wouldn’t recommend watching any more of this film, unless you are a pretty hardcore Ghost Rider comic book fan (and if that’s the case, you probably have other issues than the ones I’ve highlighted here.) Idris Elba is always a good addition to any cast, but he couldn’t save this one. There were rumors of making a Ghost Rider 3 but Nicolas said he wouldn’t reprise the role, so let’s hope that remains true over time.

Having said all this, I still have faith that Nicolas Cage will not continue to let us down as viewers. He’ll bounce back (after the next few?) and make another great movie that will surprise and entertain us all–it’s guaran-effing-teed. If not, I’m hoping for the penance stare.