It’s February of 2007 and the biggest movie to hit theaters is a little comic book flick called GHOST RIDER, with the great Nicolas Cage in the hot seat as The Rider and Henry f*cking Fonda as the Devil. The flick debuted at number one and broke box office records for the month and made it the most successful movie of 2007 (up until that point). People showed up in droves to see a flaming Nic Cage drive down the side of a building on his kick-ass motorcycle while using his chain lasso to keep him from plunging to his death. The problem with the GHOST RIDER’s success? It really wasn’t that good of a movie—in fact, in many circles, the movie blew a lot of assholes. And while I found it fairly entertaining, it’s more like a ‘it’s not that bad’ attitude than a “that movie was awesome” attitude. But beyond Cage and the lovely Eva Mendes, the flick was an overall waste of talent, bad effects, and a wacky big-screen debut for one of the coolest superheroes around.
Jump head 5 years later, and there’s a sequel on the way. No big surprise, right? The first one made a f*ck load of money regardless of its overall shitty reputation. But instead of doing more of the same, the execs somewhere at Sony did something awesome—they went in a different direction. They kept Cage as the lead, but switched up the weak sauce director (Mark Steven Johnson) with the notoriously insane and totally badass directing duo Neveldine/Taylor, and they changed up the audience focus, from being a more kid-friendly PG-13 to a heavily adult-friendly R. And while all that sounds awesome on paper, it wasn’t until the recent release of the first teaser trailer that we actually got a whiff of the awesomeness that’s about to unfold with GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE. And while I wasn’t blown away by the first one (but like I said, I didn’t hate it), I’m cautiously optimistic that GHOST RIDER 2 is gonna be the GHOST RIDER flick we’ve all been waiting for!
But it’s not just the new trailer that’s leading me in this direction. The word on the street coming out of this year’s Comic-Con (check that shit out HERE) painted a picture of so much f*ckin’ over-the-top ridiculousness that it’s hard not to get all crazy excited for this flick. Reports of F-bombs being dropped left and right (and in the film’s tagline, no less), of The Rider pissing fire and spitting bullets (as seen in the trailer), not to mention the graphic nature of the gore and the kills, if the footage and the trailer combined are any indication, this is gonna be the movie event of 2012!
Now let’s talk about some of the shit that’s seen in the trailer (watch it below to get up to speed if you haven’t already): the way he uses his chain/whip/lasso here is amazing, flipping people and cars around like they’re nothing at all. Awesome! The before mentioned spit-fire and piss-fire sequences. Awesome! The fact that badass Idris Elba is up in there. Awesome! And Nic Cage looking like he’s using that insane charm that worked so well in post-GHOST RIDER flicks BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS and DRIVE ANGRY, laughing maniacally and being totally insane. Awesome! And this is just the teaser trailer!
I’ve been fooled by trailers before (even the first film’s trailer was pretty dope… not this dope, but dope enough), but I have to believe that Neveldine/Taylor, the directors of CRANK, CRANK 2, and GAMER, will be able to deliver something so insanely awesome that, even if it’s a flaming piece of shit, it’ll be extremely entertaining and mind-numbing while in the theater. Case in point: I f*ckin’ loved GAMER the first time I saw it in theaters, thought it was the coolest f*ckin’ action movie of the year—it literally blew my mind away. Then I caught it on video, and… meh. Not so much. Then again, CRANK and CRANK 2 are very rewatchable and insanely fun with each and every viewing. The verdict? It’s far-fetched that GHOST RIDER will be anything less than entertaining.
Maybe it’s the booze talkin’, but the teaser trailer for GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE has me pumped like no other 2012 film. Nic Cage being crazy-ass Nic Cage, extreme action-sequences, spitting bullets and pissing fire moments, and a look and feel that screams R rating. Hell, even The Rider’s overall gritty look is about 100% more badass than its PG-13 predecessor, and (better yet), it appears to be closer to the source material. There ain’t no sparkling-clean leather jacket here, folks! Call me crazy, but I’m exciting and very optimistic that this flick is gonna kick all kinds of ass and make us forget that GHOST RIDER ever existed. Can’t wait for February 17, 2012, when The Rider rides back into theaters everywhere and f*cks up everything in sight. Bring it!