A Great Story, But Told With No Soul

Rating: 5/10 (9 December 2006)

John Constantine has survived hell, and now fights to keep demons away from Earth, despite being banned from Heaven (basically fighting for God and humanity with no chance of being rewarded for it).
I never read the Hellblazer comics, but I am under the impression they are probably very interesting. The elements of this film are very interesting -- the philosophical ramifications are intriguing and the story in general is unlike any other heaven versus hell story you'll come across. Constantine is a unique character, and one we might call the tragic hero.
The film, however, left me feeling very empty. The concepts were interesting, and I really enjoyed the presence of the Spear of Destiny (one of the more interesting parts of the Adolf Hitler mythos). And even the special effects -- which I usually hate, as I hate all computer graphics -- were fairly impressive. I enjoyed the look of hell as a place being constantly bombarded by nuclear bombs. But something was not here, it was just very flat.
First, much of the action really had little background. As the film progresses, you learn more about Constantine and the battles he fights. But so much of the story is not explained. I understand in the director's commentary he points out what certain items are and where people's motivations are coming from. But this does not do me any good, does it? And my biggest complaint was the overall feel. While the graphics were nice, the tone was supposed to be dark. A man fights demons, he's dying of cancer and there are suicides. Yet, the tone is more PG-13 and not so much R. The director did not darken the film at all, but kept it bright and vibrant (like a traditional comic book). Was he fighting the hordes of Satan or Casper the Friendly Ghost? There was simply no suspense or character emotion at all.
The playing up of the Roman Catholic point of view was overdone. The female lead says something like, "My sister was Catholic, there's no way she'd commit suicide." Um, Catholics kill themselves all the time. And then over and over they repeated that Catholics believe suicide is a one-way ticket to hell. Why do they feel the need to explain this over and over but they don't explain the aspects that are actually difficult? And also, the thing about getting buried in a Catholic cemetery because of suicide: this didn't need as much emphasis, and is also false. Sure, the rules say you can't, but it still happens all the time. Why do the writers assume everything is so cut and dry? This movie was directed by Francis Lawrence, whose past efforts have only been music videos. Granted, some great directors can come from music videos or commercials or even from nowhere at all. But Lawrence might not be one of them if he can't tell what a light film is and what a dark film is. And his next project? Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" -- a remake of "Omega Man" and "Last Man on Earth". Now, this film is already destined to be mediocre (Will Smith does not have the science fiction integrity of Vincent Price or Charleton Heston), but if Lawrence goes and makes this another "light" film, the entire project is a waste of time.
Keanu Reeves is decent in this regardless of what others say. This is probably the most mature thing I've seen him in. The original actor was Nicolas Cage, who probably would have been even better, but Reeves did a fine job. (I have heard this film gets compared to "The Matrix" a lot. I didn't make that connection, but if it's true it could have avoided such things without Reeves, obviously.) Rachel Weisz is a strong actress, even when given horrible roles like this one. I feel bad having to say anything against her, so I just won't. I only wish she would have walked out on this film and done something else.
Most surprising was probably Gavin Rossdale, who played the half-breed demon Balthazar. I thought he was very calm, cool and collected and quite sinister. Often I find musicians do not cross over to acting with as much success as they had planned, but Rossdale really had great screen presence. I hope people continue to call on him for such projects, especially roles that Jude Law is not available for.
I know that I'm probably in the minority, but I don't want you to see this movie. My very good friend loves this movie ("one of the best") and his girlfriend likes it as well (and their tastes are not overly similar). And the general ratings seem to suggest others consider it to be decent. Well, I don't. It bored me and I thought it was really nothing special. I would have rather watched "Pee Wee's Big Adventure".