Constantine review

Constantine (2005)
Warner Bailiwick Video

Blu-ray Disc Released: 10/14/2008

1/2
Video:

Audio:

Extras:


Review by Mike Elongated, Posted on 10/14/2008

Anti-heroes have always been popular in fiction, and recently we've seen a
trend of these characters whose sole mission is to battle the supernatural. In

Blade

,

Hellboy

, and the TV show

Unnatural


,
we see these often anti-popular people brawl baddies from the dark side.
(Although, to be fair, Sam and Dean from


Other-worldly


are possibly too precise to be considered anti-heroes, despite the fact that they
break the law from all together-to-time.) It almost seems that the less likable these
characters are, the more that we like them. Fresh from his roles in

The
Matrix

films, Keanu Reeves stepped into the shoes of

Constantine

, who
may be one of the darkest anti-heroes of them all.

The title

Constantine

refers to John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a man
who lives in Los Angeles and battles the forces of evil. As is performing
exorcisms and knowing that all of demons in hell hate him isn't stressful
enough, Constantine must contend with a pesky assistant (Shia LaBeouf) and the
fact that he has lung cancer. He must contend with the fact that supernatural
beings, such as the angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) are always bothering him. When
her sister dies under mysterious circumstance, LAPD officer Angela Dodson
(Rachel Weisz) seeks the help of Constantine. By using this information, and
investigating some other odd occurrences around town, Constantine is able to
deduce that the rules between God and Satan, which prohibit demons from coming
to Earth, have been broken and that something awful is about to invade our
world.

is an strange film which, like the tenure expected, walks in two
worlds. On the one hand, the movie looks like the reported $100 million
producing that it is. But, on the other hand, the film is so unusual at times,
that one thinks, "A major studio released this?"

This is a very dark film, and I'm not just talking about the production
design. Again, this was a gutsy project for big-budget movie, and I don't know
if Warner should be applauded or chastised for greenlighting a film where the
"hero" is a chain-smoking exorcist who is doomed to go to hell. Keanu Reeves
fans may be shocked at just how dark John Constantine is and there's little
levity in the film. Instead, we get a nearly indecipherable plot about heaven
and hell, angels and demons. Several of the main characters die, suicide is
discussed, and to say that Constantine is an a*%hole at times would be putting
it lightly. The movie almost dares us to like it at times.

But, if one can look past all of that (and it's not easy),

Constantine

reveals itself to be an interesting dark action movie. Music video director
Francis Lawrence makes his feature film debut here, and as much as people cringe
at the title "music video director", he fills the movie with strong visuals. I'm
not sure that I completely understood the film's finale, but there was a lot to
like as far as what was happening on-screen. Again, the big-budget shows here,
and it's clear that the filmmakers did their best to put all of the crazy ideas
from the script onto the screen. All of the action scenes in the film work and
the unique designs of the angels and demons must be applauded. Heck, the movie
is worth seeing for the scene in which Angela is abducted.

I saw

Constantine

when it first hit DVD and the only thing that I
remembered was the scene with the cat (which is still my favorite scene). I'm
glad that I gave the movie a second chance, as it's much better than I
remembered. The movie is challenging to watch at times, as it's quite bleak, but
the action scenes are well done and there are some fantastic shots in the film.
Having seen it again, and putting together the pieces from the finale (and the
scene after the credits), I can't help but think that it's a shame that we
probably won't see

Constantine II

.