Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence (2012)

I have always been a huge Ghost Rider fan, basically from the first time I pulled his comic card from the pack he has always intrigued me. Maybe part of that has to do with girls deep down craving Good Guys with a Bad Boy streak. And  if one thing is true…Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider has that. When the first Ghost Rider came out I was so excited and I loved it! When I started seeing the previews for the sequel, I was a little cautious. To be honest, sometimes sequels can suck…heck most of the time they do, and it is just Hollywood trying to rake in a few more million quick bucks while destroying perfectly good story’s in the process. Story’s that have already been written for them…they just have to turn it into life. I figure if I do it in my head when I read a book how hard can it be. And with Comic books I am convinced it is even easier…HECK the storyboard is already laid out for you. How lazy do you have to be.

Any way I devolve from my original point. 

I did decide to go see the sequel, and I had to go twice. Not because it was good….but because I had to make sure it was that bad and I didn’t miss something. I did not! 

The first time I went to the Drive-in with my friend Dion. The movie had pretty much just come out and the place was packed. I was enjoying my first weekend free of 5K races and running in about a month so I was ready to kick back and have a few drinks. Well I ended up drinking a little more than I should have considering it had been a while, and I totally don’t remember the 2^nd half of the movie, and  what I do remember…wasn’t that good. So this past weekend, when the guy I am seeing suggested that we go to see Ghost Rider, I figured why not. So we packed my dog into the back seat and headed to the drive-in…and this time I watched the whole thing and I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t horrible. 

**Side Note - Usually when seeing a movie twice…writing a blog is easy for me, but to be honest. I think I could pretty much tell you the entire story in about a page. Nothing seemed to really happened…and left something to be desired the day after. Heck the person I went with fell asleep…so that can’t be saying much. **

This story picks up a few years after the other ends. Johnny Blaze (played by Nicholase Cage) has removed himself from society and taking refuge. Trying to learn how to control the Rider inside himself, he has withdrawn…until Moreau (played by one of my girls fav actors…Idris Elba) seeks him out. Moreau is a non-traditional alcoholic monk and he believes that the Devil (Played by Ciaeán Hinds) is after a young boy. Moreau manages to convince Johnny to seek out the boy, named Danny (played by Fergus Riordan) and his mother Nadya (played by Violante Placido). 

Roarke has enlisted the help of Carrigan, Nadya’s Ex to help track them down and bring him the boy.  

**Side Note - Now why in the hell he would hire the chicks ex-boyfriend to fetch a kid that is not his is just strange. Maybe they were trying to develop some type of character development, but honestly any old psycho dude could have gone after the boy ** 

Carrigan thinks this task is going to be easy and when he does catch up with the pair fleeing for their lives Carrigan and his crew quickly overpower Nadya and begin to drag Danny to the car. In the distance the Rider realizes that something…someone is calling out to him and he is unable to stop himself from going to the aid of Danny in a blaze of furry. Flying by Moreau the Rider tracks the boy via some mental connection they have and he one by one starts to feed off of Carrigan’s crew.  

Fear shoots through the men as they try to push the boy into the SUV. Carrigan grabs a massive gun and as the Rider walks towards him…head flaming Carrigan sends the Rider flying. Carrigan turns and flees with his little remaining crew leaving Nadya screaming and the Rider incapacitated.

**Side Note - Now they have added a little bit of money into the Riders appearance, but not enough for anyone to jump out the seat in fear.  And to be honest…it didn’t look a million times better than the first movie, but I guess he did have some more flames coming out of places. But this is the first time we are introduced to the “NEW” rider**

Johnny Blaze awakes in a hospital. His wounds are healed but you can see what the years of the Rider have done to his body. As he dresses himself to leave he spots Nadya wondering the halls. I am not quite sure why Nadya was at the hospital…but Johnny follows her outside watching her. Nadya..a smart gypsie …senses him and rounds on Johnny with a gun aimed at his head, believing that he is one of those out to get her. Johnny has a little bit of a mental break down and tells Nadya to either kill him or let him try to help her. To weak to pull the trigger she and Johnny steal a truck with a flatbed…to put Johnny’s bike on…and head off to find out where Carrigan has taken her son. 

On the road you realize that Nadya somehow got pregnant with the devils span baby...and that is Danny and that is why Roarke wants the kid. Ummm. I guess that is believable if you believe in the virgin Mary and that then this is pretty much the same thing, just Satan instead of god…IDK. 

So the rest of the movie pretty much follows a lame ass story line! They track down the boy, Carrigan dies. Roarke brings him back as basically death…everything he touches dies…the rider wins and everyone lives happily ever after. OK. The movie sucked. And the more I write about it the more I realize I just didn’t like it. So don’t waste your money going to see this one. Save it for something else and just wait for this to come out on TV.

Paraprosdokian

My best friend sent me this list in an email a few months ago, and I thought it was great...so I forwarded it to a few friends. Since then, the comments have been coming up in my head over and over again at random times. So I figured I would share :)

1. Do not argue with an idiot; he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. Evening news is where they begin with 'Good Evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, 'In case of emergency, notify_________, I put 'DOCTOR.'

13. I didn't say it was your fault; I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

19. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

20. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

21. I used to be indecisive; now I'm not so sure.

22. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and then call whatever you hit the "target".

24. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

26. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even when you wish they were.

29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the professionals, the Fire Department, usually uses water.

31The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.