Another "unfulfilled potential" movie

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2005)

I wanted to like Constantine so much. Given its subject matter (which I'm interested in) and given that although I don't think Keanu Reeves is Laurence Olivier when it comes to acting I still find a way to like his performances, I did overall like this movie. But having said that it is just one more film that is in many ways an extended pop video of ideas - a 3 minute fix or head-rush rather than a thought out, subtle and nuanced piece of work. The basic story, of course, is ridiculous. It seems that most makers of popular films today, when dealing with theological issues, reduce them to magic or fable. Thus the "Spear of Destiny" (the one which pierced the side of Jesus in the Gospels) is reduced to an icon of magical power which makes the holder superhuman (the opening 2 minutes is excellent for impact in this respect, however). Quite why this spear has such power is a moot point at best. Further, it is taken for granted that angels and demons walk among us and that "witch doctors" wield real power. Of course, people will say this is all the stuff of story and we are supposed to suspend our disbelief. Indeed, we are. But we still need to believe something in our disbelief and this film, I repeat more extended pop video of ideas, is lacking a little in coherence. This film does not make you want to believe its own story which is always going to be a problem (and the Gabriel twist is the worst thing of all in this respect). I was waiting for the meat, the little something extra that makes a good film a stand out one. It never arrived. And then there is the Keanu factor. You look at Reeves and you see Neo. And Constantine is a lesser film than the Matrix Trilogy. Future casting directors should, I think, beware of casting Reeves if their movie is in a similar vein to The Matrix films. Inevitably, they will seem lesser films by comparison. Now there's a challenge!