In Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance we catch up to Johnny Blaze (Nic Cage) many years after the events of the first film. “The Rider” has apparently grown into an all-consuming force of nature that Blaze desperately tries to hold in check; until the presence of evil inevitably sets The Rider loose again, to feed on the souls of the guilty.
The Rider is presented with a full buffet of evildoers when a group of ruthless mercenaries storm a church in pursuit of a young boy named Danny Ketch (Fergus Riordan), who The Devil (Ciarán Hinds) intends to use as his human vessel. Blaze claims that The Rider is no savior, but when warrior monk Moreau (Idris Elba) promises to lift the curse from his soul as reward for saving Danny, The Ghost Rider is given new purpose, and an opportunity to be more than just a demon in the night.
Nicolas Cage has been tortured by many demons during his curate’s egg of a career, but until he stepped into the biker boots of stunt rider extraordinaire Johnny Blaze in 2007’s Ghost Rider, the demons had at least been metaphorical.
Back then, in a doomed attempt to save his dying father, Blaze entered into a Faustian pact with the Devil that saw the spirit of a flame-belching, soul-swallowing super-demon take up residence in his gangling frame.
The Ghost Rider, much to Blaze’s chagrin, remains resolutely in residence at the beginning of this expensive and frequently explosive sequel.
Nicolas Cage again takes the lead role in the sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider
But redemption of sorts is at hand when he is charged with protecting Satan’s human son, Danny (Fergus Riordan), from his devilish dad’s body-snatching ambitions.
A mighty cabal of Christian clout, embodied by the brilliant Idris Elba as a wine-guzzling, gun-toting monk and Christopher Lambert as a tattooed uber-abbot, is soon lined up with Blaze and Danny’s spirited mum Nadya (Violante Placido) against the massed ranks of darkness.
At their head, Ciaran Hinds is magnificently menacing as the Devil, assisted by gun-running murderer Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), who is human when he starts terrorising our anti-hero, but soon gets imbued with his own supernatural powers.
You will not be surprised to learn that these characters began their lives in a Marvel comic book and the film wears its origins proudly and, mostly, successfully.
Most surprisingly, due largely to some genre-defying performances, something resembling real heart lurks beneath the skip-loads of sound and fury.
So while Ghost Rider 2 is about as subtle as a sledgehammer and positively drenched in pyrotechnics and car chases, it’s also rather fun and, like all the best comic books, a little cleverer than first impressions suggest.
