![]() ![]() Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.Though while "Wish You Were Here" always felt sad and tragic, could it be that in the Ghost Rider's case there's a happy ending in store? Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. But ultimately, when the Rider emerges, we're called back to that Pink Floyd album. Blaze doesn't want to bag the chick he wants to burn her. It's refreshing, in fact, that there's no need to cram a love story in here. Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze must fight the Ghost Rider's urge to take out Nadya, who has done one or two bad things/guys in her time. Having inherited the touch of death from Roarke, the villain - or is it his victim? Or just the audience? - is briefly transported to a dark Other Place as the transition to nonexistence occurs. The directors' unique style is also evident when Whitworth's character begins to exhibit his own ghastly powers. That is, when he's not spinning about in midair like the Tasmanian Devil. But at the same time, the character becomes creepy and otherworldly, moving about with an odd gait and a cocked head. When the Ghost Rider does manage to burst out, the humor is often still present (is there no greater joy than watching a bad guy get slashed into nothingness by a 50-foot-long magical chain?). ![]() It's ridiculous - and hilarious - and Cage knows it, Neveldine and Taylor know it, and even Johnny Blaze seems to know it. Cage pulls out all the stops as Blaze tries to contain the fire within, screaming, giggling and generally freaking out while his face partially CGI-morphs - a dead, blackened eye here, a wisp of char there. Meanwhile, Johnny Whitworth is also hanging around as Roarke's gun-for-hire who will soon undergo a simultaneously debilitating and empowering transformation. Stricken and growing weak because of the mortal form he's taken, he requires the supernaturally-inclined Danny (Ketch? Maybe kinda sorta) to cure what ails him, no matter the cost to the boy. But when the wine-swilling, ghost-busting monk Moreau ( Idris Elba in his second Marvel movie of the year) alerts Blaze that a woman named Nadya ( Violante Placido) and her son Danny (Fergus Riordan) need protection from the very creature that created the Ghost Rider, our whacked-out hero has no choice but to help. Blaze is now somewhere in Eastern Europe in self-imposed exile, doing his best to keep the demonic Rider from emerging from within. They even manage to cram in the back cover of Pink Floyd's album "Wish You Were Here." Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts, Johnny? The basic origin of Blaze is touched upon in brief flashbacks - his deal with the Devil to save his dying dad, which resulted in his being transformed into the Ghost Rider - but otherwise we are spared the presence of Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes and the teenaged version of Cage. Just fine for bored 12 year olds, if they can handle big violence, large burning objects flying around the screen, and a dude on fire eating people's souls (spoiler alert perhaps? Hope you caught that this is Ghost Rider, that's what he does).Play Spirit of Vengeance opens with Cage's voiceover, as he sketches out the Ghost Rider's mission and reminds all that even those of us watching dare not let the Rider's gaze catch us - do you really want this creature of hell to see your darkest secrets? This sequence is accompanied by some stylish animation and imagery, and it's a device that Neveldine/Taylor go back to occasionally throughout the film. The only thing shown are disturbing eyes turned all black no blood, not too much weird stuff. At least our youth can learn to appreciate Nicholas Cage, right?Ī very light treatment of satanic rituals, not too concerning overall, as goes with the setting and the story line. Oh and lots of Nicholas Cage being overly dramatic, in the way only Nicholas Cage can be. Lots of violence, that's really what the entire movie is about - special effects and death/decay/redemption somewhere in there. All implied, nothing overtly stated nor shown, not even physical contact of any kind. The CSM review is accurate, there's a scene in which the female lead, Violante Placido, allows a man to believe that he's possibly soliciting a relationship of some kind. Only 1 scene with implied sexual content, that's a win in my book.
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