QUIRKS FIRE UP 'GHOST RIDER'.

Byline: Bob Strauss

Film Critic

'Ghost Rider" has always been a second-tier Marvel Comics title, and there have been advantages as well as disadvantages to that. It's been able to get creepier and more peculiar over the years precisely because it didn't have to maintain an approach more popular titles such as "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" needed to nurture.

That said, it never really went anywhere all that mythically resonant, either. Satanic filigree and cowboy references aside, this literal hell's angel on wheels always seemed like a, well, ghost repeat of better-established Marvel characters.

So it's no surprise that the "Ghost Rider" movie is just different enough from other superhero fare to be worth a look, but not a particularly stirring genre entry.

It follows fairly standard, troubled hero rules, mixed with some substandard horror movie cliches. But that's just half the story. The other half involves a full-blown Nicolas Cage oddball performance; he's more "Vampire's Kiss" than "National Treasure" here. Whether you like it, hate it or just don't get it, this at least makes "Ghost Rider" an intriguing, witty/nutso acting experiment from beginning to end.

Johnny Blaze, who as a teenage carnival stunt cyclist (played by Matt Long) made a deal with the devil to save his father's life. Of course, Mephistopheles being the jerk that he is, this bargain does not work out to Johnny's satisfaction. Frankly, Mephisto isn't very satisfying either, since he's played by "Easy Rider" vet Peter Fonda, who never even sits on one of the film's monster motorbikes.

Anyway, years later Johnny, played by Cage, becomes the Evel Knievel of his generation, miraculously surviving the hairiest wipeouts without a scratch. He's quite a loner, and Cage plays him as a suppressed personality who's desperate to stay mellow, but still does loony stuff like chug scalding coffee straight out of the pot.

When Roxanne (Eva Mendes), the childhood sweetheart he abandoned when the devilish deal went down, comes back into his life, Johnny's charm emerges in mysterious ways -- like stopping traffic on the interstate to ask her to dinner.

This and much more inspires classic Cage goofiness, and those of us who appreciate his behavioral genius will enjoy it thoroughly. Others will find it understandably distracting from the matters at hand, which involve GR carrying out his first infernal assignment. That's to stop Meph's rebellious son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) from taking over the world.

For that business, Johnny morphs into a blazing, superpowered skeleton. Then it's all well-staged but semi-comprehensible bashing between the Rider, Blackheart and expendable henchdemons.

The digital effects looked pretty cool and clever, but I wouldn't argue with a different sensibility that just sees them as cheapish. You're either into tattoo-quality fire and bone or you're not.

The same can be said about Cage's bebop way around a role or movies about flaming bike-riding heroes. You know if you're into this stuff, and if you are, "Ghost Rider" is fine.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

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GHOST RIDER - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: violence)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda.

Director: Mark Steven Johnson.

Running time: 1 hr. 54 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: Cool and cheesy, generic and eccentric, this comic book adaptation about a devil-powered motorcyclist pretty much splits the difference.