Constantine Movie Review:


The definition of a mixed bag, Constantine has the potential to both grasp your attention and lull you to complacency. It's another comic book translation from a not-so-well-known source, and although the material has much promise, the presentation of it doesn't ring any new bells. Its story and look are inherently intriguing, but they don't seem to take it anywhere. Anchored by the central performance of Keanu Reeves -- whose good bit of natural onscreen charisma makes up for his limited acting talent -- the movie coasts when he coasts.

Reeves takes what is originally a British character -- John Constantine -- and turns him into, well, Keanu Reeves. So while the strengths of Reeves himself can do much to carry a film, the character itself isn't given much of a stage. For a comic book character to give up his/her persona to the familiarities of a famous actor will always affect the character's impact; after all, the appeal of any hero with his/her own comic depends on that character's fleshing out. For what it's worth, Reeves turns Constantine into another version of Neo from The Matrix. In this way, Constantine himself doesn't get to stand out, unlike the way, say, Ron Perlman made Hellboy stand out and Wesley Snipes gave Blade his edge.

Bringing up those two characters and their respective movies also places attention on Constantine's look and feel. It's as if the movie followed what has now become a standard "dark comic book" template for tales about dark heroes fighting mysterious forces. It's an amalgam of well-churned ingredients, a mix that includes The Matrix, Hellboy, Blade, Underworld, and perhaps even Men in Black (think bugs and big guns). Constantine uses some bold angles, nice shots, and suspense-building rhythms, but most of it just feels familiar. For better or for worse, its predecessors have conditioned us.

And perhaps all that would have been enough for the film to get by, but it also takes a few too many wrong turns, most noticeably in its overall tone. This is a story about fear-inspiring forces of heaven and hell, and, for the most part, its characters take what's going on very seriously. But then these little moments of comedy insert themselves, and, while the humor is always welcome, their timing tends to throw the mood off. Much of this is intentional, but some of it is not. The very first scene of the movie might just say it all -- in it, something very serious happens, but it's shown in such a way that your inclination, after initial shock, might be to chuckle. The filmmakers may be trying to ask the audience to take the story lightly, but given its subjects of Catholic sin, suicide, visiting hell, and eternal damnation, it might be undercutting its own effectiveness as a suspense machine.

Constantine reminds me of Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. Reach inside and get some fine performances, like from Djimon Hounsou, or cool characters, like Gavin Rossdale's Balthazar. On the next draw, you could get a distinct lack of memorable action scenes and a draggy middle section. Reach in again and find a very cool scene of a character getting sucked away through a building; and then next time you'll get a silly finale, which features a good performance for an unoriginal version of a well-known character, and an unlikely and thankless turn for another character played by an underappreciated actor. And while the box of chocolates may be full of surprises bad and good, in the end, it's only another box of chocolates.



Jeffrey Chen

So you feel like hell.

You look like hell.

You’re coughing up a lung from your six-pack a day smoking addiction.

So have you ever thought about saving the world?

Well these are some to the things plaguing Keanu Reeves, who plays would be occultist John Constantine in the new supernatural thriller “Constantine”.

The central focus of “Constantine” is a tormented policewoman named Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) who recently lost her twin sister in a rather mysterious and freakish accident. Dodson finds herself turning to Constantine, a withdrawn and emotionally guarded man who seems to have an inside track on her sister’s apparent suicide. What Dodson doesn’t know is that their journey together will take them to hell itself to uncover what actually happened. No matter what the cost or the physical pain Dodson and Constantine will not rest until they can find each other’s internal peace.

Constantine happens to be based on the DC Comics series Hellblazer, which is a rather dark and twisted series that has captivated readers with its interesting and intelligent writing. The film capitalizes a lot on the rich tapestry laid out in the comic book series.

The comic book only seems to be the layout for the film though as it also borrows a lot from previous horror films like “End of Days” and “The Exorcist” series. Basically the premise of the film is kind of a cross between Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and “The Exorcist”. The reason I mention Mike Hammer because it does have a lot of “noir” undertones which give the film more depth than it probably deserves.

I actually found myself liking Keanu Reeves a lot in this film as the tortured anti-hero. There is something to like about the guy who can’t even love himself but has to save the world. I also really enjoyed the supernatural underworld element in the film its sort of “Collateral” with a demonic twist or maybe a spookier, deadlier version of television series, “Angel”. There is a lot to like in this film and surprisingly it’s quite effective.

I also really enjoyed the performances of the film’s leading ladies Rachel Weisz and Tilda Swinton, who plays the angel Gabriel. These performances were quite effective and a surprise for a film of this caliber. I also was thoroughly impressed with the demonic portrayal but Peter Stormare whose portrayal of the “prince of darkness” is a sight to see.

I had a couple small problems with some of the plot elements and the film’s eventual resolution but for the most part I would have to say it is a pleasant surprise.

So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

There's a stylish energy that sustains this film even when it begins to drift into draggy incoherence. But it plays to Keanu's strengths as a screen presence, has enough detail and humour to keep us entertained, and glosses over its inconsistencies with visual enthusiasm.

John Constantine (Reeves) is a troubled man. If it weren't enough that he's smoking himself to death, he has a terrible "gift" that allows him to see the world of angels and demons--and to send disobedient demons back where they belong. Then he meets Angela (Weisz), another tortured soul whose twin sister has just committed suicide. Or has she? Together John and Angela discover a battle waging for the human soul, and set out to do something about it.

It's always nice to see a film that dares to tackle spiritual subject matter, even if it's treated like an excuse for Matrix-like alternate-reality action set pieces. This is jam-packed with intriguing ideas and nutty theories that make it pleasingly brainy, even if the script (and more glaringly the editing) constantly throw any sense of story logic out in lieu of putting something deeply cool-looking up on the screen. It's almost like the dialog doesn't really matter, as key lines of plot exposition are completely muffled.

Reeves is of course great at this kind of thing--brooding, measured, maintaining a sardonic distance and elegantly gliding through the action like a dancer. Weisz and LaBeouf are fine in the thankless roles as, respectively, the sceptical woman in distress and the clueless sidekick who's more than he seems. While it's Swinton (as an angel), Rossdale (a demon) and Stormare (the devil himself) who have the most fun. And Hounsou is also terrific as a kind of gatekeeper to the underworld. Or at least an underworld nightclub. Or something.

In the end, you wish the filmmakers had bothered to clarify what the, quite literally, hell is actually going on here. Despite feeling far too long, it's so underexplained and vague that no matter how great it looks, or how fascinating the characters and situations are, we always feel like outsiders looking in.

Rich Cline

A wager between God and the Devil has seen mankind been influenced by good and evil for millennia but there has always been a steady balance until now. The emergence of the ‘Spear of Destiny’, the weapon that killed Jesus Christ on the cross, has caused stirrings in the deepest depths of Hell, leading the balance to shift in the favour of evil. Supernatural detective John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), who has a gift to see both the agents of good and evil on earth, sees this horror coming and it is up to him to stop the coming apocalypse.

Another comic book movie hits the silver screen but does ‘Constantine’ have what it takes to set the box office ablaze?

Based on the popular Vertigo/DC comic book series ‘Hellblazer’, ‘Constantine’ opens your eyes to a world were the difference between going to heaven and hell can be influenced by the powers of good and evil. Here we see both angels and demons walking amongst us, pushing mankind to extremes or bringing them back from the brink. This mythology of the ‘Hellblazer’ universe opens up a myriad of plot possibilities and a fascinating outlet for both action and horror. Unfortunately the film doesn’t capitalise on this fully.

Feeling more like the first act of a much larger story, ‘Constantine’ is an introduction into the ‘Hellblazer’ universe. Here we find out about the continuing battle for the control of the human soul by the forces of light and dark. With an intriguing premise revealing how God and the Devil made a wager about their influence over human beings, the film takes us into the battleground of Earth as the balance between good and evil is though on a covert scale. In the middle of this are a select number of ‘gifted’ humans that can see the agents of good and evil on Earth. One of these people is John Constantine, a self-proclaimed supernatural detective who has taken it himself to banish the agents of hell who try and tip the balance more into their favour. An intriguing premise that is only partly realised.

The main problem with the film is that it spends a lot of its time introducing you to these facts and not enough time on the actual main plot of the film, the tipping of the balance in the favour of evil and the plot that surrounds this. For a character that already supposed to know all about this, John Constantine seems to spend an awful lot of time rehashing a lot of things that he has already explained to Angela Dodson but making out that he has discovered these facts for the first time. As Angela becomes more awake to John’s vision of the world, the interweaving of backstory and current plot becomes confusing, when it would have been far similar to reveal his in a flashback montage or an epic opening scene.

This aside there is still much to enjoy about ‘Constantine’. The look of the world that the supernatural detective inhabits is superbly realised. Treating Heaven and Hell as parallel universes that exist on the same plain as Earth, we see our anti-hero travel into Hell itself to find him wondering through a fire engulfed version of Los Angeles, where the film is set. Filled with demons and the souls of the dammed, this version of Hell is more vivid and frightening than the usual, more traditional approach as you can easily relate it to a destroyed version of our own paradise.

The characters are also well realised. John Constantine himself is a little bit more than your typical anti-hero. His gift is more of a burden that he has to carry but he is driven in his fight to make amends for a previous mistake that cost him his place in Heaven. Keanu Reeves excels in these types of roles. While he might not be the best actor in the world, he does have a screen presence that draws you into the characters he plays. Add you this that he also does action really well and you have some one who is always worth watching. Rachel Weisz is an actress that always draws your attention. No stranger to big budget action films, this a role that calls for many of these skills but also draws on her ability to create good, believeable characters. As Angela, we meet a character riddled by grief over the death of her sister but driven by the need to find out what happened to her. Add to this good support from the constantly watchable Shia LaBeouf as Constantine’s sidekick Chas, Djimon Hounsou as Papa Midnite, Tilda Swinton as the archangel Gabriel and a fantastic turn by Peter Stormare and you have an extremely watchable cast.

‘Constantine’ is a good comic book movie that only suffers from trying to tell you too much in too shorter time. As this feels like the start of something much greater, this first film does get bogged down in backstory and introductions into the ‘Hellblazer’ universe, to the detriment of the main plot of the film. The performances, the look of the film and the gripping finale make up for this however and make ‘Constantine’ the first act of a continuing story of the fight between good and evil.

Jamie Kelwick

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