Ultramodern yet stylish

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2005)

Constantine is the greatest dark thriller to be released in the last two or three years. This movie had all the action and intrigue as your average carbon-copy CG-intensive production, but its cinematography and pacing gave it the overall feel of a Wachowski, John Woo, Ridley Scott, or even David Fincher film.
Movies based on comic books have a wide range of potential. The still-life panel dialogs can either lend themselves to two-dimensionality or conceptual brilliance, depending how they are directed. Constantine is at the high-concept end of the spectrum, with well-conceived, well-composed, and well-edited scenes that ultimately make no judgment about the true nature of the afterlife.
Despite the Keanu stigma, which has been essentially obsolete since Point Break, every actor in this film delivered a first-class performance. The writing didn't come from Shakespeare, but neither did the script from Star Wars. The actors obviously believed in what they were delivering, which encourages the audiences to do the same. The casting could not have been better, down to the selections of "Gabriel" and "Satan." Everyone and everything contributed to the dark and foreign atmosphere that this picture delivered.
There are two camps of people who have seen Constantine -- those who loved it, and those who hated it. This fact alone should be justification for checking it out. Those interested in cinematography will get an eyeful.