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Constantine / Hellblazer

The big mistake I noticed from the Book of the Film :roll: was that they say the Spear of Destiny killed Christ. (apparently as any good Catholic should now)

I'd say I'm a fairly good Catholic, insomuch as I actually trained to be a Catechist once, so I know a bit about the workings, so to speak. And I can categorically state that Longinus' spear did not kill Christ. It merely proved he was already dead, rather than breaking his legs.

Bloody hell, they don't even get their gospel references right! What hope has the comic referenced got?

I've now read Original Sins and Dangerous Habits. I have to confess the end of Original Sins got me good and confused. I thought the demon's blood then shagging the future mother of Something, thereby tainting her with demon seed - well, rather weak to be honest. A bit tagged on, like they needed to end it quick rather than do it properly.

And what was Swamp Thing doing in Constantine's Silk Cut???

I like Constantine more and more. He has no super powers, no super strength, nothing but a working class attitude, extensive arcane knowledge, and a kick ass attitude. I do think the Keenu 'I tried to commit suicide because I can see demons' is rather lame in comparison.
 
I think part of the reason why the film Constantine is muddled etc. is because JC isn't someone to be wrapped up into a nice little two hour movie. He's far more complex - most of the time he seems to do things like piss off demons and the devil or get into desperately hot water and damn all his friends just because he can, which isn't exactly the easiest thing to convey in a movie script. He's just a bloke.

He's a weird combo of comic book character - Mike Carey and Brian Azzarello amongst others have treated him more as a Marvel/DC kind of standard character - ultimately changeless - yet more of a developing one when in the hands of Ennis and Delano who make him do fun things like hit 40.

As a cameo, I also like his appearance in the first Books of Magic (Gaiman again).

I thought the movie captured some of the spirit of Hellblazer: Gabriel is a jumped up snob (sad the chainsaw/wings scene didn't feature), his totally pragmatic attitude to all the shite that hell can throw at him. I would've preferred if he'd been a bit more of a love rat, mind.

Still, I liked it enough that I'll be getting it on DVD when it comes out - especially interested to see the deleted scenes with Ellie.
 
Ravenstone said:
And what was Swamp Thing doing in Constantine's Silk Cut???
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If I can remember correctly, Swamp Thing can appear through any plant matter. It's something that crops up a few a times in Hellblazer, Swamp Thing etc., etc..


I like Constantine more and more.
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I think this ties in with Lollypockets' points about the character's complexity and how it's developed over time although stayed the same. I like Hellblazer more as the whole mythos and backstory gets bigger. I liked it from the word go, but as I appreciate it much more as each new piece gets added. In the past, when I've tried to get people to read Hellblazer, I've always struggled as I've always been conscious of the fact that if you recommend one arc or TPB, then you don't get the full John Constantine and you're kind of doing the character and the title a disservice. If that makes sense.

He has no super powers, no super strength, nothing but a working class attitude, extensive arcane knowledge, and a kick ass attitude.
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I think that depends on how you define "super powers"! I'd say "extensive arcane knowledge" ranks pretty highly: I think the likes of Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate et al. would agree too! ;)

I do think the Keenu 'I tried to commit suicide because I can see demons' is rather lame in comparison.
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Actually, Reeves is rather lame in comparison, period!
 
Well, by super powers, I meant that he didn't get his arcane knowledge by receiving a paper cut from a radioactive Necrotelecominiconthingywotsit ;)

Mind you, now I come to think of it, that's not a bad idea. Remember, people - you heard it here first! It's my idea! Mine! All mine!!!!!!!

Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

:D
 
Went to see it this evening. Actually found it quite enjoyable, at least as someone that only realy knows the character from the Sandman crossover stuff and expected it to be a bit wonky anyway.

I thought the first 3rd was best, while there was plot unfolding and it was mostly character driven with the occassional bit of bonkers weirdness thrown in. Then it seemed to sag a bit, before going into 'I kick ass for the lord' type mode and a rather muddled ending. There's still a lot of nice touches throughout and it's cleverly thought out in parts, if not as a whole.

Plus points to Tilda Swinton as Gabriel, I think her performance was worth seeing the film for alone. There's not much I can add to what's being said about their devil already, it was way wrong to me but then I'm a big fan of the Gaiman/Carey version. I bet David Bowie would have been up for playing him if asked 8)
 
I loved it. The end was kind of muddled, yes, and the Devil is dreadful, but Tilda Swinton was perfect, Keanu was absolutely fine, Rachel Weisz was in full on "sexy, sexy cop" mode, the special effects were horrific, the Bacon "figures at the base of crucifixion" warrior demons were mental and the rest of the supporting cast were great, particularly his sidekick and the West Indian guy. And Gavin Rossdale is a fantastic actor, even if his technique simply involves cranking "camp" up to 11.
 
Okay, now I've seen it I feel better placed to comment on it.

It was... well, alright. And that was it. Not brilliant, not awful, just alright. Our Lass enjoyed it, but then she doesn't read comics and had no expectations.

I agree with BlackRiverFalls that the first bit was best, very low key, a bit more of a detective story, but then it went a bit belly up. There's not much I actively disliked, but in no particular order there was:

Tooling up for battle: What? Why? Has our Johnny suddenly lost his famous wit that can get him out of anything with only a pack of smokes for comfort?

Papa Midnight: Nice performance, good character, but I wanted him to be a right nasty piece of work like in the books.

Storming into the Hospital: Looked exactly, and I mean exactly, like I would expect it to look in a video game. Not that impressed.

The Spear of Destiny: Couldn't they have used a Lost Artefact that was actually lost?

Chas: Is he actually old enough to hold a drivers lisence?

Conversely, things I thoroughly approved of were:

Smacking the Archangel Gabriel in the face: Who's the daddy now, you androgynous freak?!

The Archangel Gabriel being a bit sweary: Are the Seraphim supposed to use the F-word?

Flipping off the Devil on the way into Heaven: Pure classic Constantine, IMO.

Soldier Demons: Mum always told me that if you pick your nose too much the top of your head caves in....

It could have been better. It could have been so much worse. I thought Keeno did pretty well for a change, and I actually thought Peter Stormare was going to try and hump him to death at one point, even though the rest of his turn was a bit too over the top. (Yeah, yeah, like that wouldn't have been, I know...)

On the whole, I would say a 6 1/2 out of 10 on the Jolly Jack scale of approval. Solid work, but must try harder.
 
It ocurred to me some time after I watched it, that since the cop's sister killed herself to bring Constantine onto the case to save her sister, then it was actually a sacrifice rather than suicide, or at least no different to what John does at the end by slitting his wrists.

So she shouldn't have gone to hell to start with?
 
WITHOUT reading the rest of the thread,,, i just watched it last week ..and it wasn't as bad as i'd been led to believe,, although WE SHOULD ALWAYS be wary of Keano Reeves in ANY role but he did a great job in the first Matrix,, also i thought he was brilliant in Bill & Ted's Big adventure .... (first film i watched stoned ,with friends and curry)...as a footnote "Van Helsing" could've been worse too (watched with 9 1/2 year old son, he LOVED it!
 
I've got it on Region 3. Watched some of the extras yesterday, but haven't got round to the deleted scenes yet. Got fed up of listening to all the production team saying how they wanted to remain true to the character yadda yadda yadda. Well, here's a hint - they failed miserably.

Whatever Keenu is playing, it's not Constantine. Yes, Gabriel was good, although a bit too feminine. Should have been more adrongynous. And Lucifer was, frankly, bitterly disappointing.

Keenu's Constantine was a wimp. A weak, puling, mewling, pathetic loser. The REAL ConstanTYNE wouldn't waste any time in sacrificing him to the nearest available demon.

Very disappointed. :(

But I'll try and remember to check out the deleted scenes.
 
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