More Constantine Reviews Roll In
Source: Superhero Hype! December 28, 2004
It looks like Warner Bros. is testing Constantine, the Hellblazer graphic novel adaptation starring Keanu Reeves, over the holidays as we've received two more reviews from folks who got a chance to check out the movie yesterday. First up is 'Duche':
They had a screening of Constantine up here in Park City Utah last night. It's sort of a mix between The Exorcist and The Matrix with a touch of those George Burn's Oh God movies thrown in for effect (I'm being sarcastic because of the fact that some of the angels and demons in this film dress in suits).
The special effects are terrific but the story needed a lot more work and Keanu Reeves looked like he was sleepwalking during the entire film. He's a good actor with great range but he looked bored and the character he was playing really added nothing to the movie other than to be a miserable and depress prick that you'll end up not liking at all.
There is a scene where he's trying to plead his case to the angel Gabriel about his efforts to get into heaven but you end up laughing at him instead of having sympathy for what he's going though because of how contradictory his attitude is with the people and the world around him. He's what we call in church a part time catholic, which means that his all righteous when he's in church and a bastard when he's out. I think what the makers of this film were trying to do was to create a character that was conflicted in his role in the battle between good and evil but the characterization of John Constantine was not handled well and the character just looks like he's only out for himself. The character of Angela played by the wonderful Rachel Weisz is actually a much better character than Keanu's and would have been a better lead as well if you had a smart screenwriter (Which this film does not) Djmon Hounsou is also very good as Papa Midnight and I found his character also more integral to the story than Keanu's. At least you knew where he was coming from and he had a more lively personality than the bored stiff composure of Keanu's John Constantine and Peter Stormare gives a lively yet somewhat campy turn as Satan. The ending is ok but the revelation concerning a character is not well done because of the fact that we only see that character for about five minutes in the film and you don't end up surprise one bit once you find out because you don't really know much about that character in the first place. My hats off to Rachel Weisz, Djmon Hounsou, and Peter Stormare for giving their best efforts to this movie but there should have been a better screenplay for them to work with and Keanu Reeves should have had a character who supported his talent other than a character that was so completely underwritten that you don't have a clue on who he really is.
'Wendy' also writes:
I just came back from a screening of the new Keanu Reeves clunker called Constantine up here in San Monica California. I'm a fan of the comic and I wanted to keep an open mind but the movie was a real wasted of time, and some of the effect look really cheesy in parts of the film. Keanu Reeves is not John Constantine and no matter how many cigarettes he smokes and how big his trench coat is, he still not John Constantine. He acts more like Archie Bunker than the sorcerer we all know and love who likes to add more fuel to the fire in the battle between good and evil. Rachel Weisz,Gavin Rossdale(Yes, the same man who is married to Gwen Stefani)and Djmon Hounsou were the only actors in this pile of wasted celluloid that actually turn in good performances. They at least looked like they actually gave a damn about what they were making while Keanu, the director and the scriptwriters seem like they had no idea on what they were trying to put across. Certain scenes in the film were just way too dark to take notice on what is going on from time to time and most of the dialog ranges from corny to so-so. The movie wants to make a statement about heaven, hell and the human sprit that is struggling in-between but the subject matter was not handled with care and it felt like it was watered down in order to commercialize this film to the brainless masses who can't really think for themselves (Dare I say the religious right?) If you are going to tackle this kind of subject matter, go for the jugular and pull no punches. Don't take a great comic book and turn it into a supernatural fluff piece that is more in tune to the Left Behind series than of the comic that it was based on. It only hurts the film in the long run and it does.
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