There's probably not a bigger or more prolific actor whose acting style and filmography has me on the fence more than Nicolas Cage.
On one hand, his body of work couldn't be more diverse and eclectic. Genuinely talented and possessing ample range that spans various genres, Cage has always managed to make most (if not all) of his roles memorable, even if it wasn't for the right reasons. Some of his best work involved him believably drowning inside the neuroses of his characters, from his Oscar-winning role as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas and his dual role as screenwriting twins in Adaptation., to his portrayal of an obsessive-compulsive con man in Matchstick Men and his balls-off-the-wall aneurysm of a role as a corrupt cop in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Cage becomes so committed to whatever role he takes on that it borders on absolute fearlessness.
But on the the other hand, that fearlessness has made him somewhat of a laughingstock in recent years amongst critics. Many of his most recent cinematic outings have been big-budget actioners low on brains, ultimately relying on Cage's penchant for bizarre madness or quirky line delivery. Stinkers like Knowing, Season of the Witch, The Wicker Man, Drive Angry, and Bangkok Dangerous have caused detractors to label Cage a mere "paycheck actor" who's complacent with sleepwalking through bland roles rather than taking on more challenging dramatic parts.
The same went for his role in 2007's supernatural comic book adaptation Ghost Rider, which, while somewhat successful commercially, once again was dependent on Cage's lunacy rather than taking the initiative to create a good story. But alas, the Hollywood gods decided that a sequel was in order, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance delivers more of the schizophrenic same... though it's tough to determine now if that's a good or bad thing.
After making an ill-advised deal with the Devil (Ciaran Hinds) to save his father's life, stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze's (Nicola Cage) soul was bound to a demon, which transformed Cage into a fiery-skulled, supernatural bounty hunter known as the Ghost Rider whenever he was in the presence of evil. Spiteful of his cursed alter ego, Blaze secludes himself to Eastern Europe, where he tries to keep the Rider in check.
That solitude doesn't last for long, however, when French monk Moreau (Idris Elba) offers Blaze a chance to rid himself of his curse, on one condition. It turns out the Devil is in search of his son Danny (Fergus Riordan), whose mother Nadya (Violante Placido) made a deal with the Devil twelve years earlier to save her life, only if she bore the demon's son. Now the boy's 13th birthday is approaching, a day that the Devil plans to transfer his essence into Danny's body and remain young forever.
With the Devil's hired gun Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), among others, on Nadya's tail, Blaze agrees to protect Danny and hold back the Devil's forces, only so he can be rid of his own curse once and for all.
First, some disclosure: I've always been a fan of Marvel's Ghost Rider character. Although I haven't consumed his comic book stories with the same intensity that I did for, say, Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, I've always liked how the character's origin, powers, and even appearance defied the conventional standards that most heroes stuck to. After all, when the character first appeared in 1973, you couldn't really think of many funny-book characters with a "biker-from-hell" motif whose head was, of all things, a skull on fire.
Thus, when I saw the original Ghost Rider flick directed by Mark Steven Johnson, I was unimpressed. For starters, it was PG-13, a safety move on the studios' part that was in direct contrast to the brutal, dark tone that a movie based on Ghost Rider should've had. Even though it had its fair share of violence and spooky visuals, it was no scarier or off-the-wall than your everyday teen horror flick. Second, the story felt uninspired and pedestrian, not breaking any ground or giving us reason to care about what was happening. Finally, the lead performance by Cage surprisingly lacked the nuttiness that we've grown accustomed to, and aside from his Blaze doing "quirky" things like eating jelly beans from a martini glass or listening to the Carpenters, his performance fell flat.
This must've been a bone of contention as well for the sequel's incoming director team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (who both helmed the adrenaline-packed Crank films), because they've clearly told Cage to turn his crazy up several dozen notches. Usually, when Cage's characters are mentally unhinged, the filmmakers try to justify it with an external/internal stimuli (in Bad Lieutenant, it was drug addiction; in Face/Off, it was because he had John Travolta's face on his head). Here, Neveldine/Taylor would like you to believe that Johnny Blaze is going loopy because of the demon inside of him, but naaaaahhh, it's just Nic Cage once again overwhelming a movie with his oddball tendencies.
But the other part of me just can't get enough of it! It's as if Cage's bug-eyed, spastic, "a man possessed" persona (an acting method he's gone on record as calling "Nouveau Shamanic") is a drug of sorts, a demented hurricane that you just can't pry your eyes away from. Nevermind the one-dimensional performances from the rest of the cast (including the usually terrific Idris Elba), the uneven storyline and tone (it goes back and forth between cheesy B-movie and serious drama), or the seeming lack of continuity from the first film or the comics. But in the end, let's not kid ourselves. Movies as earnestly off-the-wall as this don't aspire for Oscar greatness. You're here for the Cage, and for the Cage only.
The psychotic special effects (the best including a climactic motorcycle/car chase) and hyperactive editing only amplifies Cage's manic Red Bull of a performance. Is this just one big joke, and only he's in on it? It's clear that he's having the time of his life, regardless of how good or bad the final product turns out to be. But it's this B-movie style insanity that makes this a far more interesting experience than the previous film. It's unfortunate that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance didn't attempt to pay more tribute to the original comics, go for R-rated mayhem like it should have, or stick to one consistent style of tone, but I will admit that as a source of pure adrenaline, goofy humor (including a bit involving a Twinkie that made me chuckle, or that part where the Rider pisses fire...yes, that's right), and Nic Cage at his unhinged zenith, Spirit of Vengeance is a carnival ride that may not be the most sophisticated, but still a guilty-pleasure ride nonetheless.
Letter Grade: "C"
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