Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
After a week of allowing Nicolas Cage’s maniacal performance as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance, I still find myself struggling to decide if this “sequel” is actually better or worse than the original film (also starring Cage) from 2007. There are certain elements to the film, including Idris Elba, a straightforward story and the grittier look of the Rider himself that push me in one direction, but then I think about the first film and how this followup really failed to grab me. It’s like this film is just a bit too generic, including that straightforward story – everything feels like it’s been done before. Most perplexing though, is trying to determine if Spirit of Vengeance is an actual sequel or not; would they reboot Ghost Rider after four short years? It seems they did. Sprit of Vengeance establishes Johnny Blaze as continuing to struggle with his alter ego, Ghost Rider. He has very little control over the soul-searching supernatural skeleton, which I would have thought would be a little more within reach after the events of the first…