Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)

 "What if you have to pee when you're on fire?"

Yes, I know: this film is notoriously not very good. And on the strength of tonight's viewing I'm not going to quibble with the consensus. Yet I've seen worse films- annoying directoral style aside, this is a pedestrian but mildly entertaining watch, if disappointing. But it could have been more.

I don't mean to suggest, of course, that this film is big or clever, or should aspire to be anything more than a good B movie. But there's nothing wrong with a good B movie. And I think we have here a decent if corny action plot, with  decent if corny characters, by decent if corny actors, with Nicolas Cage fitting the description exactly, Idris Elba stealing the show as a kind of religious French James Bond, and Ciaran Hinds chewing the scenery in the best possible way. There's lots of Da Vinci Code-style religious conspiracy hijinks, there's Blackout, there's Danny Ketch from the comic as the boy the Devil/Mephisto is after- interesting. Allthis is promising. The script could perhaps do with a polish, but I think the same script directed better would have garnered a much more favourable reaction.

Because the direction is bloody awful- music video lighting and music video camerawork throughout. Cool camera tricks have their place, but there's too much of it here and, fatally, although the camera trick culd have been gloriously silly, they give the impression of trying to be cool. The same goes with the dizzying camera movements throughoit. There's lots of action but very little mood or atmosphere. And the direction is utterly humourous, which works very much against the grain of a silly B movie script.

It's a shame. This is a bad film, but could easily have been a rather fun one.