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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance has everything what you would want in an action film.  Nic Cage, a hell demon, soul sucking bike rider wielding a flaming metal chain who pisses fire, a black French priest who has a taste for a thousand year old wine and guns and a boy who is literally the son of the devil, and finally the devil himself who creates a ghoul of turning anything it touches into decay.  Along with this the directors at the helm are Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the masterminds behind the bat shit crazy Crank, it’s sequel along with the underrated Gamer.  Right now you should be getting out of your seats and going straight to the cinema, right?  Well sit back down.

The story centres on Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider who is called upon by a French priest to stop the devil taking possession over a young boy’s body that will allow him to use his full devil powers without straining his mortal casing.   Johnny is promised that the curse of the rider will be lifted in exchange for the boy’s safe return to his mother, which begins a cross-country chase between him and the devil.

The film leaps back and forwards to being absurdly brilliant to missed opportunities by poor delivery.  The introduction of the rider creates a brilliant effect of creating an foreboding presence and atmosphere when the rider is in the area, moments of silence would pass as we watch him suck the soul of his first victim, it was moments like these that would have made this film awesome, if they could have kept it constant.  However, unfortunately, we never get to see that fear and intimation and it’s replaced with action sequences which in some cases are entertaining, others rather mundane, and none are really of any real greatness.

Nice Cage’s portrayal of the rider is clearly one of love but love is blind and other than some standard Cage craziness during transformations his part in the film just feels too bland.  While he’s in human form we’re left wanting more of the rider and less of this aging man who we aren’t really familiar with, or really care about.  It would be easy to assume that with an A class actor like Nic Cage delivering a quip after annihilating an enemy would be easy, but instead it feels too weak, too whispered. 

 The impact of the comics created a feeling of a thunderstorm when the rider speaks, instead what we’re giving is a voice what sounds like it’s a bit too shy but feels like he’s going to deliver the quip anyway.    In fact the most entertaining part of the film arrived when the black French priest (Idris Elba) starts drunkenly gunning chanting monks, at which point we don’t see him again.  It’s saying something when a drunk dude with a gun over shadows a demon with a flaming skull.

While it’s visually brilliant and leaps forwards in terms of cinematography and visual effects from the original Ghost Rider film it fails in comparison with any of the directors previous work (well, maybe not Jonah Hex).   The film couldn’t manage its pacing and managed to turn something of brilliant insanity into something insanely dull.     The comic series is immensely enjoyable, it’s tragic that even with a good set of directors and an actor able to play mentally psychotic characters to a tee failed to breathe life into a character who seems to be going straight to Hell.

Chronicle

While most super hero films of late have opted for the well-known actors and characters that have had decades to secure a strong following Chronicle dares to be different.  Taking its main actors from TV shows rather than a-list movies all the while creating a story from scratch rather than using an already established brand or recognisable name.

 The story revolves around three teenagers who develop telekinetic super powers through some mysterious hole in the ground.  Although the origin of their powers was a lose end the story-arc felt refreshing.   It focussed on one character in particular Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a boy whose mother is dying and whose father is an abusive alcoholic that has spent years on the coach.

Andy’s social awkwardness is the main thing we follow throughout the first part of the film, the camera which we see through chronicles (pun intended) his life.  His friend Steve (Michael B. Jordon) aptly says in the film that the camera acts as a barrier between him and other people.  It’s clear that he’s an introvert who doesn’t want to abode to social expectations. Through his bad luck and unfortunate placement in life we watch as our social awkward lead steadily becomes an antagonist who spirals out of control.

Stepping away from the Marvel and DC incarnations of the superhero world, these boys are real people.  Andy has a life laced with tragedy, Steve, the popular student who has an interest in people and politics, and Matt (Alex Russell), Andy’s cousin who is more concerned about fitting in and  acts as the moral compass.  When they develop their powers, their first instinct is to cause childish mischief and play pranks, pushing shopping carts out of arms and trying to pull chewing gums from people’s mouths, which lead to some genuine laughs.

The story is strong and coherent balancing a fantastical story with a serious tone whilst fitting in some humour in appropriate measures.   Although heavily influenced by the Manga and live action anima Akira, the strongest asset this film as is something that has lacked in many others of date; originality.   Its relatable characters help you stick with the story whilst helping you immerse into the screen without the need of 3D glasses.  You can feel consumed in the clouds as they fly and make you feel a ping of remorse with its tragic events.

The major flaw with Chronicle is the found footage angle.  In some scenes it adds to the story and fits perfectly to the world we’re supposed to be involved with, yet it draws attention to itself.   We’re led to believe that what we’re watching is ‘found footage’.  Yet the footage is from people who just happen to be carrying high definition cameras around with them at all times.   One scene in particular made it a bit too unbelievable during an action sequence; in an apartment a man and wife are filming something, and just happened to catch Andy fly through their apartment.  It’s 30 seconds of footage, but that’s all it took to think the whole thing was stretching itself too far.  Who found this footage?  How and why would they use 30 seconds of this random guys film?  It just didn’t make sense.

As an overall reaction the film came across as a strong film, well acted, and well filmed (par the moments mentioned above), and it is a welcome change to the ever growing genre of ‘super’ films.  However, with a year of blockbusters such as the Avengers and the Spiderman reboot this may be a forgotten gem before long.   A recommended watch, but one what may be forgotten in the shadows of this summer’s established brand name movies.

Check out the trailer above- B.