Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Overall: D
Cast: C
Plot: D
Special Effects/Stunts: B
Similarity to Comic: D
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page
  
I was surprisingly excited for this movie, although I shouldn't have been after the first one.  I should learn from my mistakes, because this movie was even worse.  I didn't expect a great plot, but what I got was abysmal, the cast was unenthusiastic, and I really want to know what comic books the writers and directors have been reading because this movie was NOT based on the Ghost Rider comics.

The Good: The only thing I can really write about in this section is the special effects.  Some of them were pretty impressive.  I especially thought that the way they animated Ghost Rider himself was better than the first movie.  Some of the chase scenes were pretty cool, but other than that the effects and stunts were pretty standard.

A lot of the actors were pretty unknown, and considering that they didn't do too bad.  I kind of liked Idris Elba, but even he could have been better.  Nicolas Cage was, well, Nicolas Cage, speaking in the same over-dramatic monotone voice that he always does.

The Bad: Pretty much everything in this movie.  The plot was boring and incredibly generic and predictable.  They tried to spice it up by throwing in random over the top action scenes, but they were so random and over the top that they too became predictable and just ruined the movie even more.

I don't ever remember reading anything like this plot in any Ghost Rider comic.  It's one thing to make a superhero movie and not exactly follow a comic plot, but it's another to add characters and make major changes to the main character.  This movie did both.

The Interesting: The only thing I really find "interesting" about this movie is that they made it at all.  The first Ghost Rider didn't merit a sequel, and if they made one it should have at least tried to be similar or better.  Give us Eva Mendes, a decent storyline, a different actor for to play the Rider, SOMETHING!  

Conclusion: They could have made this movie much darker, less "comical", and more like the real comic but they chose not to and they really should have.  This movie was pretty much a disgrace to the franchise and an embarrassment to Marvel.