Hype(rbole) slips off the edge; lacks edge...

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2005)

I thought the first Spiderman wasn't nearly as faithful as Spidey2, Punisher was pretty close, Hellboy too, but the cinematography of "Sky Captain" was the first to hit the look. And three of these didn't have the type of material that Constantine had to cover. More than a few commenter's hit resonance similar to this assessment: the movie tried to hit a broader audience base than it should have.
I believe this points to script/screenplay issues. But rather than complain, I think this movie did a great job with some odd material, and KR was correctly type-cast.
I liked the movie overall, and in addition to being a good popcorn movie (Italian Job would be a 9 here, LOTR a ten), I think it is done well enough that I'll add it to my DVD collection when it hits the market.
*** SPOILER STUFF *** .. Just like the protagonist in "The Reluctant Messiah", KR continues his anti-hero role pattern in Constantine. Knowing this predilection going in, you shouldn't expect a non-normative performance.
This is the first movie that I thought created effects to capture a world of angels and demons in a 'matter-of-fact' manner, and KR did well with merging various superstitious facets along with his Mr. Anderson 'tude. If you're looking for theological or dogmatic traditional adherence, forget about it tho...
With that said, this movie excelled - from my perspective - exploring the concept of alliances and loyalties with callous disregard for order, similar to the study of street-rats versus godfathers explored in Black Rain (for example), and what audacious would be engaged along the rise to power. How the plot was choreographed around this theme also went well.
It was certainly OK to have humans act in accordance with 'free will', but perhaps several elements could have been served better thru better foreshadowing or flashback sequences, particularly the ominous emergence of a second-rebellion of Satan and the issue of suicide, and some better coverage of the roles that angels & demons play in the battle of good versus evil.
The cinematography was pretty reasonable, capturing some moments well, particularly the effects sequences, but languishing in covering moments where character development needed bridging which is where a couple sections lose momentum, about 5-8 minutes each. In casting KR as a 'depressed' individual, this went well I thought. Some of the humor seemed too contrived and not bad-assed enough, which is one place the edge got lost.
Given several exemplary movies in the heaven&hell/alien horror genre, including small screen offerings like "V" and the recent 'Passion of the Christ', the movie lacked the level of 'darkness' that might have been possible with a hard R-rating, and this is where the missing edge was most noticeable.