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by Max Braden Published: February 11, 2005
Comic books have long been a source of material for Hollywood movies, though beyond the great heroes of graphic novels - Superman, Spiderman, Batman - I suspect the majority of Americans have little to no experience with the original publications that spawn the movies. So I write this review as I went into "Constantine," a movie based on the DC Comics graphic novel Hellblazer, viewing it like most audiences will, from the perspective of one who knows only as much about the story's universe as is presented by the movie's advertising. I'm quite happy in this position of blissful ignorance, considering that for the most part "the book is always better than the movie," so better to see first, read second, than to be let down by the movie following the read. So anyway, general audiences will ask: there's this Keanu Reeves theo/mythological sci-fi movie coming; is it any good? Yes and no...In the movie universe of "Constantine," God and Satan compete for human souls. What are the stakes? How do you determine the winner? Who knows? Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to be saved or fry. The self-imposed rules are that neither can enter the earthly realm themselves, or directly force humans in one direction, but half-demon, half-human creatures can whisper in our ears to try to influence us. When an uppity demon breaks the rules, for instance possessing a human, an exorcism can send the demon back down into hell. John Constantine is one person who performs such ghostbusting. Constantine is a bit of Columbo crossed with Philip Marlowe. This anti-hero is a chain smoking, hard drinking, world weary and never happy paranormal detective, born with the unfortunate ability to see the hybrid demon-humans that walk the Earth. They're not pretty, and his sight traumatized him enough as a teenager to commit suicide. He died, but only for a moment before he was revived by modern medical help. Since we're playing to Catholic Rules Sinball, suicide is a one-way ticket to Hell with no probation. So Constantine knows that when his rapidly diminishing time is finally up, he's f***ed (as the angel Gabriel so bluntly puts it to him.) Constantine believes his only hope of getting into Heaven is to score brownie points with God by sending as many demons back to Hell as he can. Of course, Constantine has his sidekicks. Chas Chandler (Shia LaBeouf) is a taxi driver who serves as Constantine's chauffeur. Chas idolizes Constantine but his eagerness to apprentice is frequently shut down by Constantine's go-it-alone methods. Father Hennessy (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is the one who locates candidates for exorcisms by brushing his hands across newspapers until he senses something offbeat. Fidgety bowling-alley nerd Beeman (Max Baker) is like James Bond's Q, providing Constantine with all sorts of evil-thwarting gadgets and religious artifacts. "Constantine"'s plot begins with Constantine (Keanu Reeves) encountering some unusual demonic activity. He crosses paths with police detective Angela (Rachel Weisz), who is investigating her twin sister's mysterious death. It turns out that Angela and her sister Isabel had the same special sight abilities as Constantine. With demons breaking the rules all over town, it becomes clear that someone important is trying to cross over from Hell with the help of the Spear of Destiny (the spear that killed Christ on the cross), and Angela's sister may have known something about it. The world of "Constantine" is not unlike that of contemporary vampire movies like "Blade" and "Underworld," where hybrid demons have their own secret nouveau-riche-beatnik club hangouts. Papa Midnite (Djimon Hounsou) is a hybrid who runs one such club, claiming neutrality in the big game, resisting aide to Constantine while also entertaining baddies like Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale). Satan (played by Peter Stormare) makes an appearance, from his hometown of New Orleans based on his accent and outfit, and Tilda Swinton is perfectly cast as an androgynous angel Gabriel. The movie starts off pretty well, mostly based on the way Reeves plays the gruff Constantine, punctuating his scenes with a dry sense of morbid humor. Chas, played by 18 year old actor Shia LaBeouf, at first looks too young to even be driving but eventually gets to prove that he's up on his studies. But the potential is just wasted in climax of the story, where the rules seem to be out the window and a long drawn out ending tries too hard to tie every loose end. The film was originally scheduled for release last fall and then held up for polishing; if this is improved I'd hate to see the first cut. Besides Reeves, the other saving grace the strong cinematography by Oscar-winner Philippe Rousselot ("A River Runs Through It," "Big Fish"). There are some cool special effects, and one jump-out-of-your-seats moment near the beginning of the movie. Brian Tyler's score provides a slick but underused theme, and otherwise okay atmosphere. Hellblazer fans are no doubt familiar with the themes it draws upon from John Milton's 17th century epic poem "Paradise Lost." Keanu Reeves previously starred with Al Pacino in 1997's "The Devil's Advocate" which was similarly based upon the whole Lucifer as fallen angel/birthing the son of Satan concept. One of my guilty pleasure favorites, 1995's "The Prophecy" starred Christopher Walken as Gabriel, Viggo Mortensen as Satan, and "Sideways" star Virginia Madsen and Elias Koteas as human fodder in a war among the angels. I think I'd recommend watching the former movies on dvd now and waiting for "Constantine" to join the ranks of home video, were it not for best viewing of the visuals on the larger theater screen. Grade: C+ Rated R for violence 2 hrs 1 min. US Theatrical release: February 18, 2005, wide Official website 
...And Then What Happens? -Keanu Reeves stars in the sci-fi "A Scanner Darkly" this fall; -Rachel Weisz stars in the sci-fi "The Fountain" this fall; -Shia LeBeouf stars in the golf drama "The Greatest Game Ever Played" later this year; -Djimon Hounsou appears in "Beauty Shop" and "The Island" this spring and summer; -Kevin Brodbin also wrote "Mindhunters" which should probably be sent straight to video for all its release date changes, currently Memorial Day weekend. Related Articles: Howard Price's Hellblazer Primer |
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