Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D - review - Film - Arts

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In this handsome, globe-trotting sequel to the 2007 Marvel superhero adventure, Nicolas Cage reprises his role as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt man who (thanks to a dodgy deal with the Devil) turns into a flaming, monosyllabic skeleton when vexed. The rules about this demonic avenger: 1) He's vulnerable to certain firearms; 2) He's completely invulnerable; 3) No one's paying attention to the rules, you twit!

So anyway, Blaze/Ghost Rider is now on a mission to save a child from satanists. Which may remind you of last year's Drive Angry, in which Cage played a man on a mission to If originality were a crime, this film's screenplay wouldn't need a lawyer.

Cage, of course, has been plagiarising himself for years. Strange fellow. He's desperate to prolong his career as an action star, yet just as keen to avoid seeming like a complete hack. He always plays a gloomily nutty hipster, it's just that sometimes he targets fan-boys, sometimes kids.

This time, it's the kids. Blaze may pop pills but he also tells wee-wee jokes. And teaches Danny, "the child" in question (assured newcomer Fergus Riordan), to do wheelies.

What makes the film stand out is our leading man's bizarre appearance. Crank directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are known for their dare-devil camerawork but something about the cinematography puts the age in Cage. He's a decade younger than Ciarán Hinds (who plays the film's arch villain), yet the pair look like contemporaries. And both, in extremis, resemble Last of the Summer Wine's Nora Batty.

I'm all for gritty aesthetics but I'm not sure this particular trend will catch on.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D