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Nicolas Cage Spirit Of Vengeance

February 20, 2012 by · Comments Off on Nicolas Cage Spirit Of Vengeance 

Nicolas Cage Spirit Of Vengeance, Cast: Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Violante Placido, Ciaran Hinds

At: Carmike, CineBistro, Commonwealth, Movieland, Short Pump, Southpark, Virginia Center…

‘GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE’

Movie review

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Violante Placido, Ciaran Hinds

At: Carmike, CineBistro, Commonwealth, Movieland, Short Pump, Southpark, Virginia Center, Westchester, West Tower

Rated: PG-13 (intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language)

Of all the bad horror/fantasy/sci-fi/action pictures Nicolas Cage has cranked out over the past decade, “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” is the Nic Cagiest. A goofy, gonzo thrill ride, “Vengeance” is a bad movie sequel so bad that it’s almost a great bad movie.

It’s still a profoundly silly mash-up of comic book and quasi-religious “prophecy” about a motorcyclist who sold his soul to the devil, who transforms into a flaming avenger hurtling out of hell when the need arises. But this time around, Cage and everybody else on board are in on the joke.

Credit the directing duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, action auteurs who go by “Neveldine/Taylor.” For jacked-up action, they have no peers.

In “Vengeance,” the “Rider” (Cage) is haunted by the life he now leads. But a boy (Fergus Riordan) born of the devil (Ciaran Hinds) needs the Rider’s help. Satan needs the kid to fulfill a prophecy. He has commissioned Corrigan (Johnny Whitworth) to grab the kid. A biker-angel (Idris Elba) and the boy’s mother (Violante Placido) are all that stand between the devil and the boy who “completes” Satan’s plan.

The angel fetches Johnny Blaze, biker-turned-Ghost Rider. The guy who made a deal with the devil and the woman who slept with Satan click, right off.

Cage is hilariously wound-up – manic, motor-mouthed and bug-eyed.

Jaw-dropping stunts, frequent breaks for comic-book style animated “explainers” and OMG cameos abound. And the jokes? A lot of them land.

“Spirit of Vengeance” is still dumb, loud and over the top in between its dead spots. But it’s great to see what the directors can do when you give them $75 million to make a biker-from-hell picture. And it’s great that they let Cage in on the joke. If he’s going to do bad movies, at least let him do good bad movies.

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