Even though the original film was pretty much forgotten the moment it came out, the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has been heavily promoted for months now. With Nicolas Cage returning as the flame-skulled Johnny Blaze, there's really only one key difference this time: Brian Neveldine and Mark Taylor, the duo behind the Crank films who have promised over and over again to bring their dark, anarchic spirit to the Ghost Rider franchise. The first trailer, which featured Johnny Blaze pissing fire and spitting bullets, seemed to promise exactly that; now a new trailer has arrived that's putting emphasis on the more traditional elements of action and big set pieces. You can judge for yourself whether that makes it look better or worse by watching the trailer below.



I like the flashes of humor here and there, and there are some shots that could only have been captured by lunatics like Neveldine and Taylor, who have been known to strap on rollerblades to capture exactly the right shot. But in a way this is exactly the opposite of what I want to see from Ghost Rider 2-- the stranger and more hostile it looks, the more it will be able to set itself apart from more generic superhero movies. This trailer looks big and action-packed, but it doesn't look quite like the different take on Johnny Blaze that we've been told to expect.

The movie comes to theaters February 17 next year, which means it won't be much longer before we find out for ourselves how this team-up is working. Are you guys still pumped to see Neveldine & Taylor combine their craziness with Nicolas Cage's? Or does this generic trailer kind of ruin the appeal a little bit?