Constantine

by Bill Henry on Feb.18, 2005, under Bill Henry's Movie Reviews

Constantine
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Unleashing the demons of hell nationwide beginning 2/18/2005
2 *
Possibly there is a built-in audience for an adaptation of the Hellblazer graphic novels, but it is difficult to see in the new movie Constantine what there was for anyone to get excited over. The prospect of eternal screen life for its central anti-hero would seem to be even less promising than that of Elektra or The Punisher. On the other hand, there is always the fact that this movie stars Keanu Reevesâ€¦ and his fans are legion.
Transmogrified from Liverpudlian lowlife to SoCal cool dude, John Constantine (the title was changed so as not to confuse with the Hellraiser film seriesâ€”on the plus side, this movie is nowhere near as bad as that dreck) acts as a free-lance exorcist combating various damned forces on the road to perdition. Turns out he has always been able to see the evil spirits among us which led to a life of turmoil and a suicide attempt which resulted in a temporary trip to hell. Now he operates a Shadow-like organization of maladjusted types on the hunt for evildoers. Shortly after receiving a lung cancer death sentence, JC (get it, ha ha) is sought out by a cop (Rachel Weisz) whose twin sister has committed suicide (this allows for the tease of showing femme star Weisz take a faux first reel powder). All of this seems connected to some satanic conspiracy which has Constantine wondering what is up with the increased devilish activity.
Never having been a fan of the â€œlet-us-all-pile-on-Keanu-because-he-is-not-exactly-Olivierâ€ school of film criticism, it should be noted that his trademark stoicism (or if you prefer his inability to translate internal emotion to external significance) does not help a movie where the only thing that is not static is the visual effects. Worse, the literally comic book theology in Constantine is just as much of a mess as the rest of the movie. Events spin out with little rhyme and less reason.
It is not that Constantine lacks great visual bits or an intriguing look; it is just that you have to ask what all this is in service to. And besides once you have seen a face melt away, how many times do you need to see it again? Been there, done that, got a Raiders of the Lost Ark T-shirt.
The people behind Constantine including music video director Francis Lawrence and screenwriters who used to work for Steven Seagal and Hulk Hogan do not possess the storytelling skills that one finds in even an average Law & Order episode. Rather than keeping the audience on the edge of their seats as each new plot point unwinds, the actors follow the script like they are making a cake, methodically mouthing the dialogue moving along the line of discovery with little more seeming detective work than reading the next page in the script.
Possibly this will work for those simply happy to see Constantine move from page to screen, but as for the rest, at least it was better than Elektra.
–Bill Henry