Nicolas Cage fired up in ‘Ghost Rider’ sequel

Here we are, though, five years later, getting a sequel, “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.’’ And it plays markedly better, thanks to slightly tighter focus from the recoiffed Cage and plenty of stylish visuals from new franchise directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. (Or “Neveldine/Taylor,’’ as they’ve insisted on billing themselves, ad agency-style, here and in their addictively trashy “Crank’’ flicks.)

For reasons that surely have everything to do with budget, the story finds Blaze holed up in Eastern Europe, nearly broken by his curse. He rallies with a nudge from Moreau (Idris Elba, with an awful French accent), a gun-toting religious disciple trying to protect a boy mysteriously being targeted by the satanic Roarke (Ciarán Hinds, more smarmy than scary). Standard stuff, but oh, Johnny, the frenetic flair with which it’s delivered. Ghost Rider’s appearance in his initial showdown with the bad guys has a “Halloween’’-worthy tension and creepiness that’s dazzlingly rendered by the movie’s effects artists. Neveldine and Taylor streamline Blaze and the devil’s back stories through semi-animated sequences that look all the more striking in 3-D.

The filmmakers can’t keep it up for the entirety of the hour-and-a-half running time, but they throw enough inventive craziness at us to legitimize a sequel that no one really asked for. And it’s enough to make Cage’s own brand of crazy blend right in.