The story is about Johnny Blaze, a man who made a deal with the devil to save his father from death, and ended up cursed in the process. This curse is the curse of the Ghost Rider, a demon with a flaming skull and body which Johnny transforms into from time to time and causes him to lose control and become a destructive soul consuming monster. Johnny has exiled himself to Eastern Europe and it has been 8 years since he was first cursed. He is approached one day by a man named moreau who offers to rid him of his curse in exchange for a job that he wants him to do. He wants Johnny to protect the life of a boy called Danny, who along with his mother are being pursued by the devil himself. The devil in human form as a man named Roarke needs the boy for his own purposes and uses mercenaries for the job. Johnny must keep the boy from danger at all costs and complete his task so that he can finally be rid of his curse.
This movie movies story is simple and effective and doesn't pad its self out with unnecessary plot choices. The story gives the Ghost rider a lot more screen time in this one compared the first film, which is defiantly an inprovment.
The films action scenes are one of the films strongest points, as they are just simply awesome. The first Ghost Rider film had a bad lack of good action scenes and failed to show off the potential of the characters powers. This film however is a completely different story. The Rider has much more exciting action scenes is this film that are shot well and feature great special effects. One of the films best action sequences comes in the form of a battle on a road featuring the Rider in pursuit of a truck convoy. Its fantastic seeing the rider actually engage a convoy of trucks while riding his flaming hell cycle.
Another one of the films strongest points is the portrayal of Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider compared to the first film. In the first film Johnny was a fairly goofy character and you didn't really believe that this man was having a struggle with his curse. The film changes that by having Johnny being isolated at the start of the film, knowing full well that his curse puts everyone around him at great risk. Nicolas Cage is clearly having a blast playing this character and it is really entertaining watching the scenes where Johnny transforms into the Ghost Rider because Nicholas Cage really throws himself into the moment and just goes completely nuts.
The rider is also a lot better is this film, and at times is actually very intimidating and sometimes scary. The scene where the Rider first appears perfecly demonstrates how much darker this film is compared to the first one. The rider has also had a bit of a redesign, because now the skull is more grey and burned compared to the clean white skull of the first film. The rider also has less dialogue this time, which creates the sense of a very silent and creepy character.
The CGI work for the Rider is also fantastic and is also fantastic is other parts of the film. The film also has a very great sense of humor, and the film doesn't take itself too seriously. The film is fully aware of its self and it aims to be a fun entertaining film, and its succeeds.
Overall I thought the film was a amazing amount of fun and I would say that this goes along with Daredevil as a very underrated comic book movie. The backlash and bad press for this movie seems to miss the point and doesn't understand that the film is supposed to be a entertaining action flick that doesn't take its self too seriously. There are times when the film actually seems like a old road trip movie and the locations combined with the action scenes reminded me a little bit of the Road Warrior. People expected too much out of a story involving a guy with a flaming head fighting the devils hired mercenaries on a road while riding a flaming motorbike, and that's why it has been unnecessarily bashed. This film is way superior to first film in my opinion, and the style of this film should have been what the first film was like to begin with. Its action is superior, the characters are superior, the direction is superior, and the Ghost Rider himself is without a doubt way superior and is actually intimidating this time around rather than a goofy bland dissapointment that spewed out bad dialogue.
I highly recommend this movie and I would love to see a sequel that hopefully also brings back the directors.
Final Score 4/5
-Great action
-The Ghost Rider is much better this time
-Nicolas Cage is clearly enjoying himself and makes the film more enjoyable
-The films sense of humor fits very well with its style
-Tremendous amount of fun
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