A decent premise let down by Reeves' typically wooden acting

Rating: 4/10 (13 June 2005)

Adapted from the DC/Vertigo comic book "Hellblazer", Constantine details the life of John Constantine, (Keanu Reeves) a detective of the paranormal who spends his life saving people from supernatural occurrences in an attempt to commit enough good deeds to buy his way into heaven after trying to commit suicide at a young age.
Sounds interesting enough - but Constantine really lets itself down by taking a decent premise and trying to pass it off as just another Sci-Fi Keanu Reeves vehicle. Because of this, the script underwrites and confuses all the more interesting parts focusing on the supernatural and the dirty dealings done by those from and/or associated with Hell, and puts more of the focus on Reeves' cynical detective. Unfortunately, Reeves doesn't seem up to carrying the picture, playing the same wooden action character as always. (I believe he changed his facial expression once throughout the entire film, and it was during his "death" scene) It's obvious that there was an attempt to break the mold - John Constantine is a thoroughly despicable man, being the chain smoking, reclusive, sarcastic cynic that he is, but in the less than capable hands of Keanu, who seems to think he is still playing Neo, it doesn't come across truthfully. When we, the audience, try to ignore the film's star and concentrate more on the dark, moody visuals and excellent supernatural CGI effects, we get Keanu Reeves' (never changing) face plastered on-screen again, and we are barely allowed to get a glimpse of the more appealing aspects of the story.
As one would come to expect, most of the actual acting talent comes from the far more interesting array of supporting characters. Rachel Weisz struggles hard to actually bring some emotion into the story, as a homicide detective investigating the apparent suicide of her twin sister, and she succeeds for the most part, but it couldn't have been easy given her co-star. Djimon Hounsou is great as Midnite, a mysterious fellow demon hunter who refuses to take the side of either light or dark, but remains neutral between them, sharing his talents with the highest bidder. He proves a far more interesting, if equally undeveloped character as Constantine, but his lack of character development actually works to an extent, adding to the mysterious mood of his character. Underrated Swedish character actor Peter Stormare plays a wonderfully sinister Satan, practically dripping malice while still only flirting with hamminess. And then we have the necessary "annoying sidekick who acts as comedic relief and serves only to further introduce the main character" character, played by Shia LaBeouf. If there was ever one of these such characters who you would gladly watch suffer a gruesome death, there has never been one more so than here. Constantine's 'intern' Chas is one of the most irritating and patronizing characters ever to grace film, and it's a sound pity that he fails to suffer the 'death by killer bees' schtick that one of Constantine's other associates is dealt.
With a different lead, the dark imagery and supernatural conspiracies might have proved to produce a decent film. As is, the gritty visuals and sweeping, moody CGI supernatural effects set the mood correctly. But every time Keanu Reeves walks on screen, with his single facial expression, we start to find looking down at our watches is much more interesting than staring at another grimace which was undoubtedly meant to convey emotion. When we can, we take refuge in the much more appealing performances of the supporting characters, especially Rachel Weisz and Djimon Hounsou, but they aren't given nearly enough development to retain our interest. Picture Constantine with a different star, and you can imagine yourself having an enjoyable, if still, not all too profound time. As it is... you may want to pass up Constantine for something more interesting.

4/10