Constantine Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)February 17th, 2005
"Constantine"
Harboring a "gift" that he never wanted, John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has the ability to see "half-breeds" - angels and demons that walk the earth disguised as humans in a battle for the collective soul of mankind. As a tormented teenager, John tried to take his own life to escape his horrific visions but was brought back to earthly life against his will.
Now, he patrols the no-man's land between Heaven and Hell, sending the minions of the Devil back from whence they came. He hopes that God recognizes his good deeds and forgive him for his mortal sin and offer salvation in "Constantine."
Based on the DC Comics/Vertigo graphic novel series, Hellblazer, "Constantine" is the high-tech work of first-time feature helmer, Francis Lawrence, who hails from the music video world. His background shows in the bombastically depicted, briskly edited frequent battles between good and evil. John Constantine must face ever more brazen demons from Hell as they ignore the many millennium rules that the forces of Heaven and Hell not participate directly in the war for the soul of man.
Keanu Reeves will definitely take a lot of flak for doing a role that can readily be linked to his role as Neo in "The Matrix" trilogy. As John Constantine, in his severe black trench coat and skinny black tie, there is a middling resemblance to his internationally known Neo. But, Reeves lends a tortured, cynical humanity to his new persona that transcends the similarity to his Matrix character. John is a smart mouthed, capable demon dispatcher that conveys a dark gallows humor that I couldn't get enough of. Constantine is not, outwardly, a likeable person but Reeves gives him character.
In another story within the story of Constantine and his plight for redemption involves skeptical police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) who is struggling to understand the apparent suicide of her devoutly Roman Catholic sister, Sarah (also Weisz).
Angela can't believe Sarah would take her own life and seeks out John for help. As she begins to see that there are otherworldly forces fighting for control of man she uses Constantine's power to find out if Sarah went to Hell.
The weaving of these stories also takes in several subplots. One involves cabbie Chas Kramer (Shia
LeBeouf) as John's wannabe apprentice who drives the demon killer on his rounds to save the earth. Another involves Midnight (Djimon Hounsou), the owner of a club that is neutral territory for the minions of God and the Devil. The supernatural representatives of the Big Guys has Tilda Swinton giving a marvelously androgynous turn as the angel Gabriel while Gavin Rossdale is greasily evil as the Devil's right hand demon, Balthasar. Peter Stormare seems to take great pleasure with his over the top turn as Satan. Unlike in Kevin Smith's "Dogma," God never makes an appearance in human form in "Constantine."
Techs for "Constantine" look like they are straight from the mind of the graphic novels' creators and rep frequently grandiloquent displays of the ravages of Hell and its hideous inhabitants.
The primary target, with hopes of crossing over to mainstream auds, are the fan boys of the DC Comics originals and the early reactions appear to be very polarized. There is a love-it/hate-it reaction that has no middle ground so it is going to be an interesting box office battle. But, not being a fan of the paperback work, I can only judge "Constantine" on the merits that I hold true. I enjoyed the film and didn't mind the two-plus hour run time. It could have been shorter but the movie going public will get good value for their dollar. I give it a B-.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
