When you tell John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) to “go to Hell” he can, and he will! Sorry to disappoint all you history buffs, but you’ll have to wait for that biopic you’ve been waiting for on the third century Roman emperor; this CGI-heavy horror opus is based on the DC-Vertigo comic book Hellblazer.
The movie starts off with a rocking-to-to-rafters exorcism scene, in which Constantine fights a demon residing within a young girl — no pea soup here — then introduces us to his taxi-driving sidekick, Chas (the ever-grating Shia LaBeouf), and launches headlong into the nonstop story. The chain-smoking tough talker teams up with Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, and their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that bubbles just beneath the seamy landscape of contemporary Los Angeles.
We learn early on that Constantine is bitter because he doesn’t want the so-called gift of seeing and summoning supernatural beings. He’s tried to kill himself over it, but his suicide attempt failed and has marked him as one who walks the line between Heaven and Hell (yet, he never once runs into Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath!). We don’t see much of the lauded Pearly Gates, but it seems that going to the place of Fire and Brimstone is easier than going through airport security; all you need is a little water, and either a kitty-cat or a jolt of electricity. And anybody can do it: the frequent flyer miles aren’t Constantine’s alone.
Constantine is not only vexed by angels and demons, he’s also the hated target of half-breeds like Hell’s finger-lickin’ good foot soldier, Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale). Constantine is on a first-name basis with the haughty archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton), but Gabriel is of no help whatsoever when it comes to getting the Spear of Destiny wrested from the grubby hands of Satan’s (Peter Stormare) earthly scavenger (Jesse Ramirez).
Rossdale and Swinton, though their roles are small, were the standouts for me. Rossdale looks to have a good acting career ahead of him, if he so chooses. I also liked Weisz quite a bit; she played one of the few characters who grounded the fantastical story into some semblance of reality and she made the whole thing believable. As for Reeves, I’ve been defending him for years — I’ve always liked his acting (yes, even in 1992’s Dracula!) — but I am not sure he felt comfortable in Constantine’s cinematic skin. This could well be due to the fact that a gaggle of screenwriters have shaped the story over several years, changing the original comic book character in a variety of ways. Constantine is supposed to be a hardboiled detective type, but he says and does a lot of things that don’t jibe with that persona, and quite frankly Reeves seems uncomfortable with his dialogue and/or actions in several scenes. (If you’re looking for a better Reeves vs. Satan movie, rent The Devil’s Advocate.)
Constantine is a very good-looking A-movie with lots of pretty people in it — complete with the requisite Creatures of the Night in a gothy club scene — and employs nice touches of surreal CGI where it’s appropriate. The half-breed demons are subdued but bristling with malice, and the angel’s wings are luscious and sumptuous without treading into Victoria’s Secret territory. The music is thunderously impressive, and the look and feel of the film is properly atmospheric without being overly stylized. (But I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of a director’s “stamp” on this — ala Guillermo del Toro, Baz Luhrmann or Alex Proyas — first-timer Francis Lawrence doesn’t seem to have had a singular vision for the film).
There is so much going on throughout the movie, you don’t really notice all the plot-holes and character inconsistencies until you have time to think about it later on. But that’s OK — Constantine is a good horror-noir roller coaster ride while it lasts.
Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
