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Problematic, but still entertaining fluff Premise: Constantine is based on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer. It's the story of a man, John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), who was born with with the incredible gift to see supernatural entities (ie angels and demons) that exist on another plane of existence and therefore undetectable by other humans. During his life, through his dealings with other mythic characters and creatures, Constantine has become a master of occult lore and a student of it's powers. Doomed to eventually go to Hell, Constantine wages war against the demons who seek to disrupt the balance of good and evil in an attempt to "buy his way to Heaven." Rachel Weisz plays Angela, an L.A. police detective investigating the apparent suicide of her sister Isabell. Angela doesn't believe it was suicide and suspects darker forces at work here. She also has a secret to hide. Eventually, Constantine agrees to help investigate her sister's death, and that's when all Hell breaks loose. Literally. Constantine stumbles on a hellish plot to take over the earth. Thoughts: My first thought on this film was I couldn't help but notice how much this film looked like The Matrix. We all know Reeves has almost no range as an actor. Here his John Constantine character seems like just an angrier version of Neo who smokes a lot. He's even dressed the same a Mr. Anderson. On top of that, the urban setting, green tinted lighting (in certain scenes) and even the music score all harken back to The Matrix. Even the story when you stop to think about it has remarkable similarities, the difference being The Matrix was deeply complex, philosophical science fiction, with groundbreaking action sequences that revolutionized the genre. Constantine is completely mythological fantasy with nothing really to say and derivative storytelling. Keanu Reeves acting here is passable as he gives another Matrix level performance. The director wisely doesn't expect any real range from the actor so he's not given the chance to stand out with a bad performance. The real problem here is how absolutely horrible the casting choice was for Reeves. I've never read Hellblazer, but I've read a few comics where he appeared in. It's obvious here that the makers of this film didn't care about the Constantine character as much as they wanted the Keanu Reeves name on the marquee. Not only does Reeves look nothing like the character, he's completely unable to pull off the "attitude" of the character. He certainly has an attitude in the film but it just makes him look like an ass. Personally, I would have cast Daniel Craig if I could. Perhaps even Dennis Leary would have made for an interesting performance. Hell, why not Keifer Sutherland? These seem like masterful choices compared to the braindead casting of Keanu Reeves. Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, and Djimon Hounsou are all very talented actors, but this film doesn't let them shine. They fill their roles fine but don't deliver anything that adds to the film. So far I've talked a lot of negative about this film. This is the critical side of me seeing all the glaring problems with the movie. But as Michael Bay has proven, even bad films can be entertaining to watch. Constantine isn't all that bad. It may have glaring movie making faults (which I could go more into but it would begin to get redundant) but as far as the narrative and the story go, it's relatively entertaining. I think most people would agree that a poorly made film that is entertaining is much better than an extremely well made film that is boring. As a christian believer, I usually I stear clear of biblical mythology films because they always, always, always get it wrong. It's like watching a historical film that completely screws up the facts. Sometimes I think Mel Gibson is the only person in Hollywood who knows anything about the Bible. Constantine is no different. It plays on the popular misconceptions of Heaven and Hell rather than the actual christian beliefs. However, Constantine operates on a level the same as the comics where it is fully aware that the mythology it presents is complete fantasy. As such, I'm able to enjoy it as a fantasy and not a film based on biblical teachings. The Verdict: Constantine isn't deep and memorable, but it maintains a certain level of quality to keep it from being complete trash. It's what I like to call a "fast food movie." Like fast food, it offers no nutritional value, but it's tasty and satisfies your cravings for the moment even if only to be completely forgotten later on. It's the kind of monster movie I'd like to see more iterations of. email this review to a friend
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