A couple of weeks ago, I caught the latest movie to bring comics to life, Constantine. For those who don't know, this movie is based on a character created by the great DC Comics monthly serial, Hellblazer. I'm not the biggest Hellblazer fan, but I'm a fan of John Constantine.
I really didn't have much expectation for the movie itself. I'd heard it was subpar, that Keanu didn't work in the film, and that the effects weren't worth mentioning. So going into the theater, I had no high hopes at all. Surprisingly, I ended up liking it. I'll keep the review brief, but Keanu actually captured a bit of what makes Constantine an appealing (or should that be appalling) character to begin with.
To really get the point across, I should mention that the movie itself was a bit over the top as far as Hellblazer is concerned. The comic itself is more of a character piece, with hardly any action and much more horror. The part where Keanu whips out the "Holy Shotgun?" That would never happen. What happens, and it happens often, is that Constantine is an asshole. Plain and simple, he's a magician not to help out the angels, not to help out the demons, but to help out himself. One of his first lines in the movie, "Constantine. John Constantine, asshole." is spot on, unbelievably. Even his final "goodbye" to Lucifer is in character. They made him American, they made him a brunette, but at least they kept his sick sense of humor intact.
Besides this, the movie itself wasn't too bad. I liked the effects, I liked Tilda Swinton as Gabriel, and I even liked Gavin Rossdale in a small role as Balthazar. It says a bit on the relationships between humans and God, and humans and the devil, but that's probably best saved for another time.
I don't imagine the movie has a lot of legs, seeing as most people I saw it with thought it "OK," but what the heck, I thought it entertaining.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 stars.
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