Constantine (2005)

 Three Stars
When I was a teenager I would sew garments, and my Grandma would point out the sloppy parts saying "Take your thread ripper and undo this part and resew it." I always hated that, but I knew the garment would be better after I fixed it. The guys who made this movie needed a Grandma to gently tell them to rip out the sloppy parts and redo them. I thought this movie was compelling entertainment until the scene where Angela gets dropped into the same pool where her sister died. After that the movie becomes a screeching train wreck; there's a wierd mish-mash of events clumsily crashing into each other. You wince and look away, wondering why, oh why did they not take some time to work out the ending so that it was as good as the beginning?
Despite that, this film has a lot of artistry to recommend it. The creators did a wonderful job of establishing a creepy, somber mood with the sets, music, costumes and dialog. The lead characters do a wonderful job with the material they are given. The secondary characters are quirky and interesting. The special effects are out of this world - heh. This film had a lot of potential and I would love to see a sequel where all the problems that plague #1 have been worked out. May 12, 2008

 "Demons stay in hell, huh? Tell them that."
Constantine was a very pleasant surprise. All the warning flags were up: a much-changed Alan Moore comic book premise (shifted from the UK to LA), a music video director and Keanu Reeves reunited with his dire Chain Reaction co-star Rachel Weisz. Luckily the changes take, the director actually knows how to tell a story and play a scene and Rachel Weisz has learned to act a little in the intervening years. It's damned hero (even Tilda Swinton's rather wonderful Archangel Gabriel tells him "You're f****d.") trying to buy his way into heaven by `deporting' demons is worthy of a franchise of his own, and the film is far more imaginative and entertaining than you'd expect. It's just surprising that, with lines like "God's just a kid with an ant farm," the fundies didn't firebomb the theatres that played it. April 22, 2008

 I wish people would watch it for what it is...
Constantine is my favorite comic book movie of all time. Not only does the character display REAL FLAWS, which is refreshing, but he also has power without physically changing. In other words, he is a hero, without a flashy suit. He is cursed, and as an anti-hero that makes him earn our trust, and admiration.

If you are watching this movie and are trying to figure it out from a Catholic point of view....okay, it's a movie. So stop the shenanigans, and enjoy the bug guy, the twin psychics, the voodoo priest, the ability to send anything to hell and to call upon the angels.

If you are watching this movie and you have already hated Mr Reeves, please note that you are biased. He plays the character of Constantine as he was depicted in the comics well. In fact there are not too many others in Hollywood that I could imagine as irreverent and brooding as Keanu Reeves. To boot, my favorite devil portrayal makes an appearence near the end.
March 30, 2008

 I didn't want to like this film - but I couldn't stop from loving it!
After reading the promo about this movie, I did not want to see it. I figured it was another Catholic-bashing movie, and I am pretty tired of those. I reluctantly watched it because there was nothing else on TV. For the next two hours, I was completely enthralled in this dynamic, intelligent, spectacularly thrilling movie! When it was over, I wanted to watch it again, and again! The cast was perfect! The movie was positively spell-binding! The script was poetry! What a story!! I have never been so utterly entertained in all my movie-going life! I just learned about the comic book connection, but I don't really care about the comic books; I loved this movie. This has to be the greatest sci-fi action thriller of all times! If you are on the fence about buying this film, I'm telling you that you will not be disappointed! When this movie ended, all I could muster was a very loud, "WOW!" Awesome film! March 29, 2008

 High expectations...Underwhelming, but Visually interesting and entertaining.
I had high expectations for this movie, especially after The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions/ The Animatrix) series, but Keanu Reeves seems to be playing the same character over and over in different films. This movie reminded me of his portrayal of previous characters, but mostly he just seemed flat.

Despite the casting issues, the movie is visually appealing and the special effects are usually great. The movie, however, kinda plods along, and I get the feeling that Keanu Reeves would rather be somewhere else.

One bonus for me is that The Evil One looks a heck of a lot like my ex-father in law, and that seemed appropriate...but that's just a singular, personal bonus. Seriously, this is a flawed movie, but it is worth watching. I expected more, but the visual effects and several scenes compensate the viewer for the slower scenes and general feel of the movie. March 23, 2008

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