“Constantine” Directed by Francis Lawrence
Warner Brothers
Watching Francis Lawrence’s film “Constantine”
feels like a case of deja vu. Take, for example, Keanu Reeves
sitting in the back seat of a car with rain pouring down as he
contemplates the next move in his twisted life, or a possessed
little girl contorting her body into unnatural positions while her
mother gasps in horror. In fact, it would not have seemed out of
place to see Agent Smith pop up and welcome the audience to the
Matrix with a devilish grin. Although “Constantine”
appears to borrow heavily from John Milton’s “Paradise
Lost” and from contemporary film classics “The
Exorcist” and the “Matrix” trilogy, it does have
its own original take on the Heaven versus Hell battleground.
“Constantine” is the newest product of the recent comic
book-turned-film trend hitting Hollywood. And although it can be
lumped into the same genre as previous blockbusters like
“Spiderman” and the “X-Men” series,
“Constantine” is unique in that it features a different
kind of hero. John Constantine (Reeves) is the anti-hero of the
comic book universe ““ a cynical, cigarette-smoking hard
drinker who has been cursed with the ability to see angels and
demons. Constantine (not to be confused with the Roman emperor of
the same name) was driven to commit suicide as a teenager because
of these nightmarish visions, but was brought back to life by the
miracle of modern medicine. Suicide is synonymous with eternal
damnation in Constantine’s Catholic world, but he aims to
regain God’s favor by sending earth-dwelling demons back to
the fiery pit of despair where they belong. The plot begins to
develop when skeptical police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel
Weisz) enlists Constantine’s help to unlock the mysterious
suicide of her twin sister. As Angela and Constantine uncover more
otherworldly clues leading to the truth surrounding her
twin’s death, Constantine begins to unearth Angela’s
own psychic inclinations. The two must race against time to save
the world from Hell’s denizens. Constantine explains to
Angela that on Earth there are half breeds ““ half-angel or
half-demon ““ who can shift the balance of power by whispering
a few words of influence into a person’s ear. One such
half-breed is Balthazar, played by Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale.
Apparently Rossdale is following in his wife and fellow rock star
Gwen Stefani’s footsteps (she portrayed Jean Harlow in the
recent film “The Aviator”) by taking on a role where
good looks and minimal acting skills are required. But “hey
baby,” you don’t need to know “the science of
things” to make money in the movie industry. The film’s
strength lies in its cinematography. Whether it’s the blurry
Martian landscape of Hell or glass breaking in slow motion, the
audience will be treated to vivid scenery and creative special
effects typical of action-packed comic book movies. Ultimately,
“Constantine” is worth seeing once, but unless you
enjoy spending your Wednesday afternoons at Jay and Silent
Bob’s Secret Stash buying the latest issue of “Papa
Midnight,” your interest in the movie will vanish as quickly
as Reeves’ fleeting facial expressions. ““ Julianne
Fylstra