Grade: D | “Ghost Rider” is a standard Hollywood treatment to a classic comic.

The movie does possess all the traits of the comic: a flaming skull, leather jackets, awesome motorcycles and a giant steel chain.

What it does not possess is the suspense, wicked villains, engaging battles or anything beyond the comic.

Both begin with the classic deal. To save his father’s life, a young Johnny Blaze sells his soul and becomes the Ghost Rider, bounty hunter for a devil-ish character, Mephistopheles.

Flash forward to Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of a disconnected stunt motorcyclist, changing the image of comic’s Johny Blaze from macho, gun-toting anti-hero to reluctant, jelly-bean eating pup.

Ghost Rider is called to action after a band of villains begins wrecking havoc, searching for a powerful contract of human souls.

Each villain represents a different element of nature and a quick, videogame-like challenge. The battles are over as quick as they begin and offer little build-up or suspense.

A brief fight with a helicopter was pretty cool, and Cage’s daytime motorcycle is a replica of the “Captain America” chopper used by Peter Fonda in 1969’s “Easy Rider.”

Other facts, such as that Ghost Rider’s flaming head is actually a three-dimensional rendering of Cage’s skull, could add interest to the movie.

However, director Mark Johnson, previously the writer of comic book/movie flops “Elektra” and “Daredevil,” lacks the real gusto to make movies that translate, much less transcend, the original power of the comic book.

The problem lies in the fact that there are different expectations between movies and comics.

In a bubbled caption over a still picture, even a line such as, “A man who sells his soul for love has the power to change the world,” can exist with a kind of deep resonance. In a movie, it sounds cliche and overused.

Where the comic version of Ghost Rider’s faceless berserk is exciting, paging to the next frame to see a new level of mayhem and hellfire, the battles in the movie are sometimes over with just a single blow exchanged. Where the comics are gritty, the movie just seems produced.

However, men may like the eye-candy of Eva Mendes, and women might like the pretty-boy image of main villain Wes Bentley.

Moviegoers turned out for the film, making it the top opening-weekend grosser of the year.

I hope they liked it; it’s already up for a typical Hollywood sequel.