We have a look at the first images from Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance! Appropriately enough, this is a sequel to 2007′s Ghost Rider. While the first film was directed by Mark Steven Johnson, the second film is being helmed by Neveldine/Taylor, the spastic brain-trust behind such adrenaline-fueled fare as Crank, Crank:High Voltage, Gamer and Jonah Hex. There are numerous credited writers but those responsible for the screenplay have primarily tv credits to their names. The story writer, David Goyer, however, has the stories forBatman, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises as well as Superman: Man of Steel to his.

Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance brings back star Nicolas Cage but leaves Eva Mendes behind in favor of Italian actress/singer/song writer Violante Placido. she was terrific in Anton Corbijn’s The American with George Clooney Now, ordinarily, this is not a movie that would be anywhere near my dance card. The reason, actually make that two reasons, that it is: Ciaran Hinds as The Devil and Idris Elba (who can be seen below.)

I adore Ciaran Hinds, although I sometimes question his choices. He does, however, seem to balance out the schlock with the small little independent stuff that no one hears about unless they monitor IFC or VOD. (I could be wrong but this looks a ‘paycheck’.) If you are unfamiliar with the name, I’m sure you’d recognize the face. I cannot recommend HBO’s “Rome”, in which he played Julius Caesar, highly enough. After that, then check out his resume on imdb. Ciaran will also appear in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy later this fall.

Idris Elba, for those of you unfamiliar, appeared earlier this summer as Heimdall in Thor. He’s about to break out in a major way. Frankly, I can’t believe it hasn’t happened already. He’s been on the verge for a long time. Remember Stringer Bell from “The Wire”? How about Mumbles from Rocknrolla? Roque in The Losers? If you have BBCAmerica on your cable line-up, you need to catch up with “Luther” season 1 before season 2 starts in January. “Dramaville” hosted by Idris starts August 17th. He was nominated for not one, but two Primetime Emmys this year. One for “Luther” and one for a supporting role in Showtime’s “The Big C”.  He’s currently filming Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus with Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron.

Bottom line there’s a lot of talent involved here. It would be a shame if it were squandered, so I’ll probably give this a look. Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance opens February 17 2012 in the US and 22 February in the UK.

Source