Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - Thoughts

I saw a trailer of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance a couple of months ago and thought it was okay. I don’t remember it being memorable, and the plot wasn’t very evident from it either. From having seen it recently, the sequel starts a few months/years after the first installment, and sees Johnny Blaze being recruited to help prevent a sinister plan, which has something to do with a little boy, and his kidnapping.

From what I remember of the first installment, while I found it simplistic yet fun, most people criticized it, and deemed it a waste of time. That backdrop coupled with the average trailer didn’t set much in terms of expectations for the sequel. Surprisingly Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance did pretty well, succeeding in coming across a lot more serious. The first movie had a very casual feel to it, while this one was a lot more gripping, allowing for the darkness of the Ghost Rider character to come through well. The inner struggle that Johnny Blaze was dealing with was a lot more evident. Right from the get go, the plot was riveting, with a certain amount of suspense as the story unfolded. Needless to say in true Ghost Rider fashion the action sequences and special effects were pretty cool; a department that the franchise has consistently succeeded in. While my friends who watched the movie with me did talk of a few glitches in the narrative, none of them were overly glaring. On the whole an entertaining comic book action flick!

Nicholas Cage who played Johnny Blaze, a.k.a. The Ghost Rider did a good job, certainly taking things a few notches up since the first movie.  He came across as lost, consumed, and having to deal with an inner battle, as the days passed. Violante Placido played Nadya, the female lead and mother of the little boy whom the plot revolved around. While she wasn’t nearly as hot as Eva Mendes, she did make up for it, looking and acting the part of an everyday caring mother. Fergus Riordan played Danny, the central character to the plot. His portrayal was pretty decent; acceptable though nothing special to talk about. Idris Elba played Moreau, a vital addition to the team, contribution nicely to the overall narrative, while making a strong and convincing showing.

I watched Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in the theatre, video being clear and impressive. Colors were vivid, with the black of the Ghost Rider coupled with the orange flames appearing onscreen contrastingly. The implementation of 3D in the movie was quite limited, and though noticeable from time to time, it was largely forgettable. Watching a 2D version would work just as well. Sound was presented by means of a multi-channel surround soundtrack and was on point. Dialog was clear, but a little on the softer side, which made it difficult to hear every word when annoying folks in the audience would talk amongst themselves. Positional sound was decent, and sound effects were pretty good.

My Recommendation: Watch It - (A gripping dark Ghost Rider!)

Death Race 2 - Thoughts

I quite enjoyed the original Death Race, and recall checking out the trailer for Death Race 2 when it became available. Death Race 2 was to serve as a prequel, creating the background and building up to the events of the original Death Race; additionally providing insight to the original Frankenstein character. That said it looked like an attempt to expand on the franchise with amateur talent.. Since I wasn’t in any particular rush, I only got around the renting the DVD and checking it out last night.

Death Race 2 is a pretty straight forward action flick, going about doing exactly what was expected from the plot. Getting into it I did have some concerns of it being a low budget b-grade expansion, but it was pretty decent. The action sequences were good, and the plot acceptable. Don’t go into it expecting any twists and surprises, as there aren’t any. The development of the ‘Death Race’ concept and the characters is done well, with overall franchise continuity being quite impressive. The in car action sequences seemed weaker when compared to the original Death Race. If you’re looking for a fun action flick Death Race 2 will do well, but if you’re looking for something unique, special, or gripping, you won’t find it here. A friend described it well when she said she had some time one evening and watched it on cable and found it to be casual and entertaining.

After having seen several extremely mediocre franchise expansion flicks, with multiple additional installments, every subsequent one being worse than its predecessor, I was quite apprehensive.  Thankfully Death Race 2 didn’t suffer this curse. Though most of the relatively well known cast members such as Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo, and Sean Bean only played supporting roles, the not so renowned leads did a decent job. Luke Goss plays Carl Lukas, the strong on morale, tough guy, getaway car driver. He comes across as calm, and thus you don’t get too much of the usual action hero attitude in your face, which is a refreshing change. Though I have not seen any of his past work, it looks like his filmography consists of a good deal of TV movies. Tanit Phoenix plays Katrina Banks, the bad girl, partner and wingman of Lukas. Her role is quite stereotype, and her performance is about acceptable at best.

The DVD I was sampling was a region 5, India release. Out of a lack of options I was forced to opt for this. Limitations included a 4:3 pan and scan format that resulted in vertical letterboxing on a widescreen TV. The worst part was the edited/cut scenes, which is not ideal for anyone who intends to view the movie in its original form as decided by the production studio and director. Video was okay, but seemed a little dull and lacking vibrancy in most scenes. Sound was presented by means of a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, and was mastered pretty loud. Surround usage was decent, and action sounds effects were as expected of any of the current day action flicks

My Recommendation: Watch It - (A straight forward yet entertaining prequel)

Rules of Engagement: Season 1/2/3 - Thoughts

A friend of mine recommended this show to me, and while I may have heard of it, I was honestly quite vague about it. After being repeatedly told that it was hilarious, I decided to download it and give it a watch. The show focuses on two couples, and their single friend; each episode covering the situational comedy resulting from their respective relationships.

 I usually review just 1 season at a time, but with Rules of Engagement having a really short first 1, and also thanks to its easy going nature, I decided to collectively watch a few seasons and review them together. Additionally, the first noticeable style change I noted was when I got to Season 4; so clubbing the first 3 seasons of 34 episodes made sense. As episode 1 of season 1 opens, audiences may get the feeling that Adam and Jennifer are the main couple, but as the episodes progress you will realize that the binding piece of Rules of Engagement is Jeff and Audrey. I would go as far as say that the second couple is thrown in there just as an addon to the strong Jeff – Audrey dynamic; similar to the addition of Russell’s over the top single player character. The show is light and fun, and great to relax and watch. Sadly it is not very gripping, and seldom did I find myself eagerly gunning to watch a second episode back to back. The overall setting seems a bit dated, but signs of age are by no means a negative. If you’re looking for easy fun entertainment, you’ll enjoy Rules of Engagement; but rest assured missing a few episodes will not hurt any.

The secret to Rules of Engagement being as enjoyable is Jeff and Audrey. Jeff is played by Patrick Warburton who is the stereotype husband of more than 10 years. He is super funny, and portrays the character brilliantly. Though I’m not familiar with any of his past work, his filmography looks to be pretty extensive. Audrey played by Megyn Price is the perfect match for Jeff, and together their chemistry is wonderful. To be honest there is very little I can think of to better the Jeff – Audrey dynamic. Adam is played by Oliver Hudson who is extremely convincing at being the totally dumb young boyfriend. In keeping with Adam’s character is Jennifer, played by Bianca Kajlich, his pretty yet silly young girlfriend. Last but not least is Russell played by David Spade; the funny little man, who is so totally single and in bachelor forever mode. Kudos to all the performances on Rules of Engagement, as all the cast members live and breathe their roles, down to the T.

The content I was sampling was a lossy DivX rip. Each episode weighed in at 175 MB, for approximately 21 minute episodes. Bitrate and compression seemed okay, but video lacked color vibrancy. Considering that Friends looked a lot like this, I would presume that the source content favored warm colors and browns, and wasn’t very vibrant to start with. Sound was presented by means of a 2 channel mp3 soundtrack, but served pretty well. Dialog was clear and I doubt the program was mastered with much more than a stereo mix.

My Recommendation: Watch It - (Fun, but not necessarily special)