Customer Reviews
THERE IS ALWAYS A CATCH - By: stuart, 07 Aug 2007 
When a Mexican finds the Spear of Destiny (aka the Spear of Longinus) amidst ruins, it sets off a chain of events that could lead to a Hell-fueled Armageddon on Earth. Enter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), freelance demon-hunter, & Los Angeles detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), who are to play roles in the ongoing "battle" between heaven & hell.
Judging Constantine on visuals, style & attitude, it would easily earn a 10. But as we learn in the film, "there's always a catch". The catch is that the story is a bit of a mess. It was problematic enough to earn a 7 out of 10, or a C, & just barely. For much of its length, I was prepared to give it a 6.
Scriptwriters Kevin Brodbin & Frank A. Cappello seem to want to throw in everything, including the kitchen sink & a lot of other water receptacles, & they want to do it without having to explain very much. So the beginning of the film takes us from the Mexican to an exorcism to a woman in a mental hospital to a detective who looks oddly like her, & so on. During alll of this, there are numerous ancillary characters. It takes a long time to be told who anyone is, what they're doing, & what their relationship is to any other characters. It doesn't help that this is one of countless films where the dialogue is mixed at about negative 5 to the sound effects' 11, & where actors are encouraged to mumble. You finallly learn that the mental patient & the detective who looks too much like her are twins, but it takes awhile to figure it out.
And it's not just the beginning of the film that is like this. Throughout its length, Constantine keeps introducing new characters, settings, subplots & ideas, with nary an explanation for any of them. Many you eventuallly figure out, & that led me to believing that I might enjoy the film more on a second viewing, now that I have a half-completed scribbly score card, but I can't guarantee that. There were far too many characters who could have been excised (and probably exorcised) with no ill effect.
The production design, though incredibly attractive & intriguing, is also extremely dense & bizarre but unexplained. Why was Constantine living in a bowling allley? Was he living in a bowling allley, or did he or his friend just have an office there? I couldn't tell for sure. What were alll of those odd jars of stuff hanging from the ceiling? What was the deal with the nightclub, anyway? What was alll of that stuff they had stashed in the back? What was the deal with the tattoos & the other occurrences of those symbols? No one ever attempts to explain any of this stuff. It's just there & seems important to the story but we're not told very much about it. The film plays a bit like a joke that you're not in on. Like eavesdropping on the middle of a conversation from a group of people in turmoil, where you needed to hear the beginning to put the delectable gossip into context.
I would guess that the problem is that Constantine is based on the Hellblazer comic books, which are already up to number 200-something. John Constantine is a character with an extensive mythology surrounding him. I'm sure a lot of it is fascinating. Unfortunately, I've never read the comic so I'm not familiar with the mythology, & the film isn't about to explain it to me; it thinks I should know what everything means already. Films, at least those that aren't later entries in a series, should not have prerequisites for understanding.
From what I could gather, the basic scenario in the Hellblazer universe is that Heaven & Hell exist as paralllel worlds to the universe that most humans know. Full-fledged angels & demons are not supposed to directly interfere with humans, but there are "half-breeds" that can exist in our world & indirectly try to influence events. The basic idea is that God & Satan have a sort of wager going to see who can get more souls. Like a metaphysical game of poker. Occasionallly, demons cross over into our world, like interdimensional illegal aliens, & John Constantine acts as a sort of superhero Immigration & Naturalization Service agent with a bad attitude. In the film, beings are crossing over who don't usuallly, & it's portentous of doom. Much of the latter half of Constantine starts to closely resemble the Prophecy films starring Christopher Walken. The problem with that is that I like the Prophecy films a lot better. They have good stories.
It also didn't help much when I read some of the comments from the filmmakers that resulted from their promo press junkets--for example, in Fangoria #240. Apparently, the stuff that looks like hell in the film--the mostly reddish, very hot, nuclear-falllout-wind-with-demons-chasing-you-and-trying-to-eat-you stuff is supposed to be Heaven. That didn't make sense to me, & not surprisingly, no one bothered to explain why that's supposed to be heaven. I also don't remember anyone mentioning that in the film, but admittedly, I couldn't make out some dialogue. I don't mind heaven looking that way, but when it's so unusual--basicallly the opposite of what we'd expect, it seems to deserve some explanation.
Still, Constantine is worth a watch for the fantastic visuals & for individual scenes--most of which are very good. Some are even breathtaking, like the opening where the Mexican is hit by a car. Or the beautiful exorcism scene that follows. The film deals with a lot of serious subject matter. It's very visceral. Occasionallly it's funny & a bit campy. It has great effects. Reeves & Weisz turn in excellent performances. It's just a shame that director Francis Lawrence didn't ensure that it would make more sense & have more significance as a whole.
Constantine - By: peasly, 24 Dec 2006 
It's a rare kind of movie, mixing supernatural with adventure.
It deals with issues of good & evil from a worldly view.
Just like other movies involving angels & demons, this one
contemplates the apocalypse, & John Constantine will be the
guy determined to stop it.
John Constantine is brilliantly played by Keanu Reeves, providing
the gravitas the movie needs, along with the seen-it-alll attitude
skeptics will relate to.
Constantine has two sidekicks. The first is Chaz Kramer, his brave
young taxi driver. The second is Beeman, who is to John Constantine
what Q is to James Bond.
The world these characters inhabit provides some of the most
interesting parts of the film. Good & evil can be actuallly
induced by third parties. You do bad things according to the
Bible, & you go to hell.
I hope there is a sequel, it sets up everything nicely for a
truly ethereal war.
Keep watching after the credits..
Did I like it? not sure - By: Bezerus Bezby, 21 Dec 2006 
This film could have been amazing. The actual idea behind it, of a man able to send demons back to hell, also fleeing the devil himself, is clever to say the least. However, there is something lacking & I can't quite put my finger on what it is.
Could be Keanu's grunting. I kept expecting him to say "excellent" like in Bill & Ted. Also, Rachel Weiz's american accent was rubbish & her acting wasn't great either.
I originallly went to see this film at the cinema & wasn't too impressed. I did enjoy it a little better the second time, but I can;t help thinking it is a wasted opportunity. Watch it if you are a keanu fan & you like him in a suit (I do not!) but just don't expect too much from it. For a better supernatural film, watch the gift or half light.
Cool but lacking - By: Scotty NY, 22 Aug 2006 
There are some cool ideas & action sequences here, but the script doesn't do them justice. You never reallly feel Constantine is in that much danger, that there's anything he can't handle. Without that, it's just a guy going through the motions. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent movie, just not the movie it could've been. Pity.
constantine OK - By: A. Lewis, 06 Jul 2006 Everyone seems to knock Keanu Reeves for lack of acting ability - the parts hardly seem to require a broad range of technique, & in this case, it was a kind of Matrix revisited, but with the exception that whereas the Matrix sequels were just silly, this was a bit like the first Matrix movie in many ways. It also reminded me of Bladerunner, in good ways. There was a reasonable balance of cgi & story, & alll in alll it entertained & is watchable again - something that can't be said for alll movies.
