First Impressions: Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance

My daughter and I saw the movie Monday afternoon in a 2-D theatre.

First Impressions: I didn't know what the hell was happening the first ten minutes of the film other than - there's a kid, and his mom, being chased out of some monestary run by Uther Pendragon from "Merlin" by some bad dudes led by a guy who looks like Swan from The Warriors who in turn are being chased by Heimdall from Thor.

It was then that I remembered this movie was directed by the guys who did Crank and settled in for the ride.

On a side note - I only saw both Crank films on Netflix, so I wasn't used to the constant camera motion on a big screen, which made me kind of sea-sick.

There was the necessary narrative that summed up the first film for viewers that never saw it, which does tie into the plot of this film. We also learn the boy's first name (but not his last), his connection to Ghost Rider and the reason everyone's after him.

There was a lot of action and special effects (of course), and a nice cameo by Connor MacLeod.  Cage's acting is as you'd expect from a film like this - somewhat over the top.

I could tell that this movie is another victim of the "let's convert it to 3-D after the fact in an effort to get more people to see it" school of thought, and I can only imagine how few shots would actually work in 3-D.

My daughter thought it was a fun film, with a simple plot but "looked cool". I'd have to agree. Definitely worth the matinee price during a school vacation week.

I noticed it was released through the Marvel Knights production company - like Punisher: War Journal before it, which didn't perform so well at the box office. Plus, GH2 was rated PG-13, which is why I brought my daughter to see it with me. If Marvel Knights Productions plans to stick around, and I think it could, their first rule should be to stick to R-rated films.Rule #2 should be to move to another medium, like cable television or a Marvel owned webzone. Rule #3 should be to begin it's own sub-Marvel Movie Universe with more Blade/Son of Satan/Nightstalkers/Doctor Strange/Morbius type films.

I hope this movie does well enough to continue the franchise, but we'll have to wait and see.