Committed Cage insists on doing things his way

MIAMI – In “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” Nicolas Cage punches Satan. He punches Satan in THE FACE.

Playing Ghost Rider, Cage also saves a little boy and helps people and does some other heroic stuff. But no matter what he does, the character will never be as beloved as Batman and Superman. The character of Johnny Blaze – a motorcycle stuntman who turns into a flaming skeleton and sucks the souls out of people – isn’t even a superhero, really. He’s more of a man possessed, which is why the role suits Cage so well.

“Spirit of Vengeance” is riding into theaters today, in the middle of winter, without screening in advance for critics. That’s the same stealth approach Columbia Pictures used when they released the first “Ghost Rider” film in 2007. The reviews, when they appeared, were scathing. On the Internet, where geek culture reigns supreme, the movie was heartily ridiculed.

But “Ghost Rider” earned $228 million worldwide. That was enough to convince Cage – to give the role another shot.

“Spirit of Vengeance” was directed by the filmmaking duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (“Crank,” “Gamer”) in their usual breakneck, I-can’t-believe-what-I-just-saw style. The movie boasts some sensational 3-D effects, nifty nightmarish imagery and a curious sense of humor – not quite camp, but definitely in the neighborhood. Early in the film, for example, there’s a scene in which an injured Blaze tries to persuade a hospital nurse to give him some morphine. He explains that he transformed into a monster the night before. She assumes he’s nuts. “No, man, I’m not hallucinating!” Blaze shouts at her in a blast of unhinged lunacy. “Look, I’m flirting with you!”

Cage’s face lights up when you bring up that line. It’s a throwaway moment in a movie packed with gigantic action set pieces, elaborate chases, Satan worshippers and tattooed monks. But the scene is also the kind of small, bizarre beat Cage grooves on.

“I find it incredibly funny when guys, in the presence of a lady, refer to them as ‘man,’ ” the actor says. “It’s just wrong. In that scene, Johnny Blaze is recovering from the pretty serious hangover of having his head erupt into a flaming skull. That’s just free rein for me to try stuff.”

In “Spirit of Vengeance,” which was filmed in Eastern Europe and Turkey, Cage would disappear into character when playing the Ghost Rider. He would walk around with his face painted like a skull. He glared at people through his black contact lenses – which, when you think about it, was probably a little scary. He wouldn’t say a word to anyone on the set, because Johnny Blaze speaks, but the Ghost Rider doesn’t (he’s a skeleton; he has no tongue or vocal cords).

“I could see the fear in the eyes of the crew, and that was oxygen to my forest fire,” Cage says. “Taylor said he felt an unholy energy was coming off me at times. The problem was leaving all that behind when I went home. When you’ve been playing Ghost Rider until 3 in the morning, and then you get invited to a Christmas party in Romania and you throw in a couple of gin martinis … all hell can break loose. And it did.”

Here’s the thing to remember about Cage: He really means all this stuff. Collectively, his films have grossed more than $4 billion worldwide. He also has one of the most diverse bodies of work of any actor of his generation. Cage, 48, has won an Oscar (for “Leaving Las Vegas”) and he has directed a movie (2002’s “Sonny,” about a male prostitute played by James Franco). He has made films for Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone and Werner Herzog and Alan Parker and David Lynch and Michael Bay and John Woo.

Cage commits to all his roles with the same ferocity, regardless of their pedigree. And he is completely, utterly self-aware. He knows to turn down his volume when acting in PG-entertainments such as “National Treasure” or “The Family Man.” There’s no need to scare the children in those. But the bulk of Cage’s films have been genre pictures, because those are the ones that allow him to try out the crazy stuff: Fighting axe-wielding killers while hugging a naked prostitute (“Drive Angry”); eating a live cockroach on camera (“Vampire’s Kiss”); peeing a jet stream of fire (“Spirit of Vengeance”).

“Nic is just like a kid: He always wants to come out and play,” says Neveldine. “The guy is a force.”