Home Entertainment Guilty Pleasures – Constantine

Guilty Pleasures – Constantine

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There’s no shortage of great comic book movies on the market today. But the challenge in adapting these characters, is to do so with enough reverence to the source material, while reaching as wide an audience as possible. Sometimes it works, such as in the cases of Batman, Mystery Men and Hellboy. And sometimes it fails, much like with films such as Green Lantern, Supergirl and Catwoman.

And then you’ve got a chance to adapt an edgier comic book, one that has more adult themes and tones. Constantine is just such a film. As a comic book adaptation, I absolutely detest it. But as a movie all on its own, I absolutely adore it.

Constantine tells the story of irreverent supernatural detective John Constantine, who has literally been to hell and back.

It sounds superficial, but changing the character of John Constantine to be less of a British rogue and more of a surly Yank is one of the damaging aspects of this film. I’ve never been a big fan of Keanu Reeves, and while he’s more than capable in this film, he certainly wasn’t the first actor that people thought of when the name John Constantine was mentioned in Hollywood circles.

The whole idea behind John Constantine though, is that he’s a liar, a con man, a thief and generally the most untrustworthy of blokes to hang around. But give him a chance, and he can also be a hero. And that’s a character that Reeves just wasn’t capable enough to play.

Hell, I don’t even mind the fact that Constantine wasn’t blonde in the film, but just take a look at the talented actors from across the pond who could have handled that role with ease. Marc Warren, David Tennant and Jude Law, just to name a few.

But while getting used to Reeves as the lead character was a challenging concept, the rest of the movie was actually pretty damn well realized. Rachel Weisz as obligatory female lead number one. Tilda Swinton as the angel Gabriel, Djimon Hounsou as the Voodootastic Papa Midnite and Peter “Freaking” Stormare as Satan.

It doesn’t get better than that. Hell, even Shia “The Shia” LaBeouf was tolerable before he embarked on a coke-fuelled spree in three Transformers films, while Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale was fun as Balthazar. That’s a pretty solid cast, acting in a world that was really well conceived and realized by director Francis Lawrence and the rest of crew. This is a world where a cat can literally take you to hell, where a mirror can hold a demon at bay and where Lucifer himself arrives in a crescendo of bullet time and broken glass, dripping tar onto the floor.

And yes, some aspects of the movie are indeed cheesy, such as Constantine Ramboing up an arsenal of Vatican approved weapons. But I’d be lying out my butt if I didn’t mention that I wish that I could own a pair of holy knuckle-dusters.

Constantine isn’t a great comic book movie. But it is a rock-solid supernatural movie with an imaginative world and a cast that more than makes up for the lackluster performance from its lead actor.

 

Last Updated: February 20, 2013

10 Comments

  1. Nathan Horne

    February 20, 2013 at 14:54

    I really enjoy watching this movie. I never read the Hellblazer comics, but I did know who he was from reading Sandman.

    I really wish they would make a sequel…

    Reply

    • Major Commodore 64 Darryn B

      February 20, 2013 at 15:50

      Personally, I’d love to see a TV show starring the Hellblazer. With Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat steering it.

      Reply

  2. Admiral Chief Erwin

    February 20, 2013 at 14:58

    Holy knuckle dusters FTW.

    I have this DVD, and its damn good!

    Reply

  3. Sir Captain Rincethis

    February 20, 2013 at 15:15

    I agree, worst lead actor one could have chosen. But the movie was a giggle, a lot of fun, if you were able to forget the comics.

    Reply

  4. Draco Lusus

    February 20, 2013 at 16:54

    I enjoyed the movie, my friend who reads Hellblazer thought it was HORRIBLE. Maybe one day I’ll read the comics. For now, I’m dying for the Preacher movie to be made and to be as near as awesome a movie adaptation can be to the original comic.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      February 20, 2013 at 18:30

      Preacher will never be a great movie, there’s just too much material to condense. As an HBO series though…

      Reply

      • Major Commodore 64 Darryn B

        February 20, 2013 at 19:18

        Hey, at least Marc Steven Johnson believed enough in the project to commission some Arse-Face prosthetic tests!

        Reply

        • Draco Lusus

          February 21, 2013 at 11:23

          WOW! I loved this story (ending was a bit lame but…) and a once off series would probably be a much better option.

          Reply

  5. Devon Stanton

    February 25, 2013 at 14:57

    I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, never read the comic books and starting to wonder if I ever should since the comic fans seem mostly outraged by any comic book movie … I wonder if there are any movies that have done a comic justice?

    Reply

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