Not quite the comic but a hell of a story

Rating: Null/10 (21 May 2005)

Movies never come out as the comic book dictated (unless you've seen Sin City) so OK, Constantine isn't British anymore and things changed and blah blah... one previous reviewer commented that the devil didn't look 'scary' enough. i guess he forgot Lucifer used to be an Angel..?
This is a really good movie and adaptation, i enjoy Constantine's view of the Devil's deal with God as utter hypocrisy, but the film also made me totally believe in confession and absolution (for a couple of hours anyway). The depiction of the half-breeds, angels, demons and the devil are spot on, in following the tale between heaven, hell and earth. This film is never preachy it doesn't tell us our path, it simply follows the poor bastard Constantine whose path has already been destined.
I got some genuine hide-under-the-covers frights out of it, the music, the performances, the settings... to me it all said Hellblazer. But it also reminded me often of Devil's Advocate, i felt this film stood alongside that one well, climbed far above it in some cases, certainly the mythology of this film is far more in depth and ready to spawn many a sequel. Keanu Reeves is not my Constantine, but his previous dalliances with the Devil, make him well-placed to play this role and bring a bigger audience in. Hopefully for many more of John Constantine's stories to come on screen.