We have been fans of the original Ghost Rider movie for years. We were looking forward to the sequel. The storyline was ok, as were the special effects. The issue was the direction. The filming flipped from color to black-and-white, from regular to slow or stop motion, from single to split screen constantly. It was distracting and failed to allow the audience to get into the story or be the least interested in the characters. We were all very disappointed. BTW - our ages are 51, 44 and 16.
I have now seen the movie twice, but have never read the book. I thought the movie was better the second time as I was able to pick up a lot of the "little hints" for the future. The first viewing was a little disappointing because there wasn't as much "action" as I expected and the focus on the "relationships" didn't seem to advance the "Harry/Voldemort" plot. However, on the the second viewing, knowing what to expect, it was much more enjoyable. The acting was great.