"See, you're a baaaad man! And this thing, the Rider, he feeds on bad men. And he's hungry, he's hungrier than he's been in years, and THAT'S why I'm shaking. 'Cuz right now, the only thing standing between you and the Rider is me, and he's just—he's—...SCRAPING...AT...THE DOOR.SCRAPING AT THE DOOOOOOORR!!"
Spirit of Vengeance is the sequel/reboot of Ghost Rider, released in the year 2012 and still starring Nicolas Cage.Struggling to to control Ghost Rider, John Blaze has moved to Europe. He is contacted by a Christian order to find and protect a boy named Danny from the Devil himself, and in return he gets to rid himself of the Rider.It was met with the same critical response of the first, but became a modest financial success worldwide.
This film has the examples of:
Action Mom: Nadya packs a knife and gun and isn't afraid to employ a little Car Fu.
Non-Action Big Bad: Roarke is unable to use The Devil's powers without burning out his body, so in a fight he's pretty much just a dude in a suit. He at least seems to be a decent getaway driver, though.
Bloodless Carnage: People are turned to ash and set on fire. But, as you can guess from its PG-13 rating, there's no blood and gore. Though there is one very quick aerial shot in which a mook is cut in half by the Ghost Rider's chain and you see that his upper half plops on the ground, with what appears to be a puddle of blood.
A few mooks are also taken down with gunfire with no signs of blood.
Bilingual Bonus: When Moreau is shooting up the place to interrupt the ceremony between Danny and Roarke, you can briefly hear him shouting "Mea maxima culpa!" For people who know Latin, they know this means "My most grievous fault."
Comic Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Carrigan is never called Blackout, the name of his character in the comics. The name Ghost Rider is only spoken once (otherwise, it's "the Rider").
Continuity Nod: While in a restaurant, Johnny drinks water straight out of a pitcher.
Creator Cameo: Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
Decoy Protagonist: Moreau shows up in the first scene and has an extended action sequence before we ever get a glimpse of Ghost Rider or even the title. Additionally, the opening sequence is set up with the possibility that Moreau died, but we quickly learn he survived.
Indestructible Edible: Blackout is hungry, so he goes through the lunch of a guy he killed. The sandwich rots, the apple rots, but the twinkie just sits there.
Knight Templar: The Rider is depicted as having become much more merciless in this film, to the point where Blaze suggests that it would use the Penance Stare on someone simply for illegally downloading an mp3. This explains why Blaze abandoned his original plan from the end of the first movie to use the Rider's powers for good, and is hiding out in a warehouse in Eastern Europe.
Although it's not so much that he can't use the Rider's power for good, but he literally can't anymore.
Large Ham: Nicolas Cage seems to have forgotten to take his anti-crazy pills because he's friggin' insane in this.
It's scraping at the door! IT'S SCRAPPIN' AT DA DAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!
Mood Whiplash: Moreau showing up at Johnny's hideout of self-imposed exile, dramatically declaring that his (Moreau's) brothers are dead and so should he be, but for the grace of God...and then a quick flashback to him hanging upside down from a tree.
Mook Horror Show: Lampshaded; after the first encounter with Ghost Rider, Carrigan describes the experience was like "something out of a horror movie".
Mythology Gag: When Carrigan uses his powers, he causes all light in the nearby enviroment to black out from the victim's perspective, in the comics, this was his actual power [hence his name being Blackout].
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Blackout was about two seconds away from killing Ghost Rider. And then he made the fatal mistake of looking into his eyes.
Roarke explaining to Danny that they have the same powers.
Power Degeneration: The more Roarke uses his powers, the more burned out his host body becomes. This actually drives the plot.
''Think of trying to use a flame thrower made of paper mache."
Precision F-Strike: Johnny Blaze was the "Worst fuckin deal" Roarke ever made.
Resist The Beast: Johnny's problem throughout the movie, as the Spirit of Vengeance takes delight in brutally punishing even the pettiest sin.
Rewrite: While keeping in continuity with the first film for the most part, Mephisto is retconned out in favor of the less ostentatiously named Roarke.
Moreau does say that "The Devil goes by many names." The real change is that Mephisto was manifesting in the real world himself before, but now can only act through an agent. This one happens to be named Roarke.
Universal Driver's License: The Rider can drive anything, and convert it to a hell-born mechanical nightmare while doing so.
Trailers Always Spoil: A rather annoying example. In every commercial, Ghost Rider is seen tossing a man into the air, then grabbing him by his chain, prepared to kick the guy's ass. Not only is this man the Big Bad, but this happens seconds before the climax.
Two-Faced: Roarke is a more subtle example, half of his face is much older than the other.
Walking Wasteland: Carrigan is brought back from the dead by Roarke as Blackout, with the ability to decay anything he touches.note Except the Twinkie. Disintegrates the wrapper, though.
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