Crazy Cage's flame goes out

For the record, I never thought the original Ghost Rider was all that awful. It's an ideal film for those switch-off-your-brain and enjoy-the-ride moments we all get now and again. In that sense, it serves its purpose. You may even come away with a new admiration for daredevil bike riders.

Yet the hugely disappointing 'sequel', Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, makes the first one look like a likely Oscar contender.

Former stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), who has sold his soul, is now exiled in Eastern Europe. One day a gun-toting monk, makes him an offer he cannot refuse: protect a young boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan) from the Devil (Ciar?n Hinds). In return, he will help him lift the Rider curse.

Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor assert their hallmark adrenaline-infused filmmaking in every frame. The result: I'd tell you, except that I was too queasy from the rapid-fire cuts, moving camera and ear-deafening roar of gunfire to think clearly. This is basically filmmaking and film viewing after too many cans of Red Bull... Talking of Red Bull, Cage seems to have drunk far too many cans. He's way over the top as the crazed vigilante.

In many ways Spirit of Vengeance is more a reboot than a sequel. That said, it's in dire need of another, or a real class one, at least. You're better off going to a monster truck show. At least there you'll have no need for those pesky 3D goggles.