REVIEW: 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D'

Nicolas Cage returns as Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider, in 3D. Also stars Idris Elba (The Wire) and Ciarán Hinds (There Will Be Blood). From the directors of Crank. Now playing nationwide, click for movie times and trailer. Also playing in 2D.
--------------------------------------------------

The first Ghost Rider wasn’t particularly well received, so many wrote off its sequel's chances the moment it was announced. However, with a surprisingly wicked trailer and Crank boys Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor at the helm, it had optimists like me wondering: could this be a supremely awesome action flick?

Nope. All those cool-looking set pieces are still present and cool-looking. Neveldine and Taylor’s signature ADD editing and frenetic camera work really add to the action sequences, as does the impressive CGI. Unfortunately, every action scene serves as an oasis, sparsely scattered in the desert of B-movie dullness.

The majority of the film is spent loitering around its devil-needs-a-new-human-vessel storyline, centring on a kid who is supposedly the son of Satan (proving to be the most boring child antichrist in history). Character connections are made but serve no point, a needless father-son subplot is shoehorned in and the lame-tastic dialog has only a very limited appeal. Whenever Nic Cage isn’t freaking out about something, he’s completely dreary-eyed and speaking in a monotone. It’s hard not to watch Spirit of Vengeance without giving it the penance stare.

It’s the same, tired complaint: most of the cool stuff in the movie is in the trailer. What we're left with is a largely uninteresting movie that simply refuses to give us the excitement we want.

• Watch trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D
• More on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D