Movie Review: Constantine [2005]

Constantine [2005]

Back in 2005, they made an adaptation of Hellblazer starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, and... and honestly, it's not that bad of a movie. I didn't become really familiar with John Constantine until I watched Mark Ryan's performance as the character in the NBC series and his later roles in the CW Arrow-verse TV series, before getting acquainted with the full collection of Hellblazer. The thing about faithful representations of characters in live-action is that I can definitely think of Mark Ryan's performance and voice while reading a Hellblazer comic. I can't do so while imagining Keanu Reeves's version of the character. It's no fault of Mr. Reeves, because he actually did admirably with what he was given, and is engaging enough as a protagonist to carry this 120-minute movie.

But this loose adaptation of the "Dangerous Habits" arc of Hellblazer is... it's got a lot going against it. Perhaps taken as a generic exorcist-superhero movie, this movie might've been somewhat better received, although it certainly isn't by any means super-good. It's just that as an adaptation of a pre-existing character, Constantine kind of fails in making a faithful adaptation of it beyond superficial names, and doesn't honestly bring a lot of uniqueness with it. The movie itself is certainly watchable after a beer or two, but it sort of really fails to find its grip and alternates between trying to be a mystical superhero movie or a horror movie or a movie that means to world-build, and arguably doesn't do particularly good in any of those aspects.

Basically, Constantine (played by Matrix's Keanu Reeves) tries to cheat his way out of hell after being doomed there thanks to a childhood suicide attempt, and then finds himself caught in a war of attrition between the forces of heaven, hell and the half-breeds. Demons are crossing over to the material realm thanks to the combined forces of the misguided angel Gabriel (played by Tilda Swinton) and the half-breed demon Balthazaar (Gavin Rossdale) as they try to bring forth Lucifer's son, Mammon, to wreak havoc upon the world. Throw in Lucifer himself into there (gloriously played by Peter Stormare), the plot device lady Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), Constantine's kid sidekick Chas (a pre-Transformers Shia LaBeouf), Papa Midnite (Djimon Honsou) and a weird subplot about the Spear of Destiny, Constantine tries to do too much and doesn't manage to fire at all fronts.

Characters that help Constantine out in his journey like the mystical-seeking priest Hennessy (Pruitt Vince) and the mystical-artifact collecting Beeman (Max Baker) are introduced and quickly killed off by CGI demons as the movie builds up its rather ambiguous mythology, while Angela is introduced as this huge character who... never actually does much beyond being a love interest and a plot device to be fought over. Constantine constantly makes expositions about the rules of heaven and hell, and the world beyond the veil, but it's never quite made to be that intriguing and the movie plays hard and fast with its own rules in the service of CGI scenes.

It's honestly not that bad of a movie, all things considered. It's a shit adaptation of the source material, for sure, but it's sort of entertaining enough on its own merits if you remove it from the confines of attempting to be an adaptation of Hellblazer. I enjoyed myself enough watching it, I guess.