"It's John. John Constantine, a**hole," Keanu Reeves whispers to a demonically possessed girl strapped to a bed in Constantine's opening scene.
Constantine (Reeves) is a man born with a "gift," the ability to recognize half-breed angels and demons hidden among humans. Tortured by his "gift," Constantine attempted suicide as a teen and was dead for two minutes before being resuscitated.
Constantine's suicide attempt condemned his soul to Hell. Thus, he fights, as all good heroes do, for redemption by exorcising demons from Earth. But Constantine's real redemption doesn't start until he helps police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her twin sister's suicide. Weisz's character, Angela, is determined to prove her sister's apparent suicide was a murder because her sister is denied a proper Catholic burial.
The movie focuses on the sin of suicide providing a one-way ticket to Hell in the Catholic belief. In fact, the movie plays so heavily on religious themes that it practically screams, "Vatican approved."
Throughout the movie, there are ironically-placed billboards such as, "Your time is running out ... to buy a Chevy," and "Got faith?" When speaking to a half-breed angel, Constantine laments, "I didn't go to church enough. I didn't pray enough." The angel's response? "You're f***ed."
Constantine's strength is its deft combination of action, horror, comedy and film noir in one film. Jokes are sparse but hit their mark, and action, horror and CGI creatures a la They combine as Constantine battles demons throughout Los Angeles. The film noir aspects of the movie are occasionally overdone -- in one scene the weapons supplier appears in Constantine's dusty apartment colored in shades of brown with harsh lighting from half-drawn Venetian blinds as 1930s era music plays. Constantine questions him rakishly, "What do you want?"
The movie's weaknesses are its convoluted plot and Reeves' inability to express the protagonist's conflicted nature. Also, some of the supporting characters are nearly unnecessary. For example, Shia LaBeouf, formerly of Disney's Even Stevens, who plays Constantine's apprentice/chauffeur, doesn't look old enough to drive, let alone drive a cab, and Gavin Rossdale (Gwen Stefani's husband and lead singer of Bush) is a good example of why directors shouldn't cast rock stars in "acting" roles.
Constantine is a welcome forerunner to the other comic book movies coming out this year (Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, Sin City). Though convoluted and preachy, Constantine is a fast-paced, captivating film. And after a $30 million opening weekend, we might not have seen the last of Constantine.
"What do you want?" Satan asks Constantine at one point. "An extension?"No, just a sequel.
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