Constantine | | Cast : | Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou | | Director : | Francis Lawrence (II) | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | February 18, 2005 | | DVD Released Date : | July 19, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | Too much of the comic book, and not enough | Content
 | Let me say this up-front: I'm a huge fan of the "Hellblazer" comic book, especially the long run by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. So I was more than a little nervous about this movie. But at the same time, I also like films like this, even when they're not connected to any existing franchise.
"Constantine" feels like it both took too little from the comic books and not enough, which is a neat trick. There's likely a heck of a good movie on the cutting room floor or, more likely, in previous versions of the scripts that were sliced and spliced together to make the theatrical version of the film.
Keanu Reeves plays LA detective John Constantine or, as he says it, "John Constantine, a-hole." That's a cute line, but it points to one of the major problems with the film: It's Schwarzeneggerized. Dialogue in the movie, for the most part, consists of clever catch phrases (and we know "John Constantine, a-hole" is a catch phrase because a riff is done on it by another character within the first minute of Reeves saying it in the movie). Is he an a-hole? Hard to tell: In the comics, he certainly is -- John Constantine in "Hellblazer" will sacrifice small children to save a city, or sell someone else's soul for a marginally improved chance of defeating an enemy. In the film, Reeves' Constantine is mostly just moody, but we never heard him say "I'm Neo, a-hole" or "I'm either Bill or Ted, a-hole" in previous movies, despite his Constantine not being dramatically different from any of his other roles. But it's a cute line, so we're stuck with it.
In the comics, these clever bits that Constantine says are spaced out over several issues and we see a lot more of his street level grungy street magic. He's not a cool guy, he's a failed human being who happens to pull a rabbit out of his hat and save the day, once in a while, but at great cost to everyone around him. In the movie, we get all the cool bits and none of the context. This is Neo in wool instead of leather and using magic instead of virtual reality.
Likewise, the story, involving the Devil's son, angels and demons involved in a cold war on Earth and twin psychics, is very authentically "Hellblazer" -- specifically, it hits a lot of the moments in the Ennis/Dillon run -- but where it should explain, it skims and where it should move quickly, it broods on arty sequences. As a result, the actual plot of the movie comes suddenly at the end, and it feels as though most of what came before was unneeded, and it probably was.
Having said that, the film looks like a million bucks, whether it's cinematography, special effects or costuming. You can certainly see where they spent the money they saved on having a solid script doctor come in and clean things up afterwards.
Those interested in the subject matter -- a war between Heaven and Hell in a modern urban landscape -- would be better advised to pick up the Ennis/Dillon "Hellblazer" paperbacks (all of which are available here at Amazon) instead. "Hellblazer" fans would be advised to rent this, at most.
Someone, someday, will make a great gritty supernatural thriller set on the mean streets of London. "Constantine" isn't it, and isn't even a particularly satisfying appetizer for that film. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | Bad Script | Content
| Produced, Acted, and Directer well. Good special effects. But there's only so much you can do with a poor story. Constantine is just another blip in the long list of recent apocalyptic thrillers. The real problem I have with this stuff is that it really gets out there sometimes. Like Constantine's ability to go into hell and then return twice baked. This one is a single view. There isn't anything in this movie that would compel me to watch it again. I think I may sell it on ebay. I, once again, learned why I wait till Hollwood Video puts them up for sale at discount. This one will be in the $5.99 to $7.99 range soon enough. Wait for the discount. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Worth a Viewing | Content
| Constantine is the story of a demonologist/exorcist who was born with the unique and uncanny abilities to see and combat demons(and angels), and other creatures from hell. The story begins with the finding of the "Sword of Destiny" - the sword that was used to spear Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary - and ends with John Constantine battled none other than Lucifer himself.
Constantine moves along at a good pace and provides an immersive story that will keep you engrossed. There are grand battles with flying demons, and a good working chemistry between Keanu Reeves and Rachal Weisz. Overall, you will walk away from Constantine having been entertained as well as glad you stepped into the fictional world of the "Hellblazer."
There are some weak spots to the film. Keanu Reeves was generally very convining, but had moments (especially when he was smoking cigarettes) where he seemed a little off. There were also some blatant inconsistancies that can leave the audience scratching their collective heads. For example: in the first 45 minutes of Constantine, John Constantine is continuously smoking cigarettes, and we are shown (quite often) the severity of his lung cancer. Then, for seemingly no reason, this character issue is forgotten. There is no hint of cigarettes or lung cancer until one of the last scenes.
Despite these odd defects, Constantine is worth viewing. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Comics to movies | Content
| This seems to be the new inspiration for movies, comics. Now i've read my share of comics, and though I have never read this one, it stays true to the basic ideal of all movies, entertain. It does give you what you want, action, horror, great digital effects, and even the age old classic brush with mortality, Heaven and Hell. Though i'm sure there could have been better candidates to play Constantine, Keanu still played a good banished from Heaven and damed to Hell, demon slaying anti-hero. With Rachel Weisz playing a good counter to Keanu, the generic cop that asks to many questions and ends up with the same basic curse that Keanu is facing, but Heaven is a little more welcoming to her. As I understand, hardcore fans of the Hellblazer series will most likely not be a fan of this movie, but if your looking for a good movie to watch when your feeling a little bored and could use a thrill or two, this is a good movie to look into. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Destroying a great comic book for the sake of Keanu Reeves. | Content
| Constantine is a very bad adaptation of the Comic book called Hellblazer and when I say bad, I do mean bad. It really desecrates what the comic book stood for and shows that Hollywood only cares about themselves, not the fans. Keanu Reeves literally gives the worse performance of his career in this film and most of the actors around him follow his path. Only Rachel Weisz and Djimon Hounsou gives good performances in this heap of junk because they at the very least tries their best with the very bad script that they had to work with while Keanu and the rest of the actors ham it up to the hill.
See it for their performances alone
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