Constantine

Constantine (Director: Francis Lawrence)

This is Lawrence's debut, based on the comic book Hellblazer by Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis.

I remember when the first trailer for this came out, many months ago, thinking that Keanu Reeves has found another Matrix-y franchise to latch onto. It was good vs. evil, where he was a huge cog in a system of ideas relating to our world, with lots of lavish special effects. The movie's images looked like either the Wachowski Brothers did this film or one of their disciples broke off and did their own movie.

Constantine (Reeves) is sort of a policeman for Hell. When demons, who are sent by the devil to claim souls, get out of line and start influencing people in a physical manner, rather than psychological or persuasive means, his job is to hunt them down and cast them back into Hell. He's even got his own "Q" in Beeman (Max Baker), a guy who arms him with the latest in demon warfare. Constantine's latest case involves a psych ward patient named Isabel throwing herself off a roof, an act that sister Angela (Rachel Weisz-one of the prettiest gals in the world) does not believe was a suicide.

So, it seems, a demon by the name of Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale, lead singer of Bush) has been stepping over the line to grab souls, and Constantine must finish him off, but, of course, there's a lot more to the story. We have angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) talking about the rise of the son of the Devil bringing on the apocalypse, and there's an artifact known as the Spear of Destiny that can be used to control the world for good or evil (this is a real-life was-it or wasn't-it artifact that apparently was used to cut Jesus Christ on the cross, and it became possessed with mystical powers and, ironically (or perhaps not), was once owned by Roman emporer Constantine I).

The film is filled with great special effects, and some cool action scenes, and even though a lot of reviews are once again dumping on Keanu Reeves, I thought he was enjoyable to watch. However, the movie, on the whole, is just above average due to a sort of muddled plot--which may be understandable given this film's "Starting Point" narrative for future Constantine adventures. Shia LaBeouf, who plays wannabe-slayer cabbie Chas Chandler, disappears after being introduced as the sidekick--and I guess when a luminous presence like Weisz enters the picture, there was no hope for him to tag along until later. Peter Stormare hams it up as Satan. There's also an image that will likely be burned in your head for some time when Constantine gives the finger to Satan--the situation making it a classic subversive moment.

Overall, worth seeing, and once it makes its truckloads of cash, maybe there's a better adventure on the horizon.