Only if you haven't read the comics...

Rating: 3/10 (2 March 2005)

I have issues. All those issues stem from the fact that I'm a fan of the comic, and as such, I had a reasonable amount of expectations. Character-wise, story-wise, setting-wise...
But I'll get to those shortly.
Instead, I'll rate the film on its stand alone value.
Canoe, as always, does his standard walking coma patient. Attitude is not his forte. Gritty is not his forte. Stunned mullet is. Line delivery of the woeful script is deadpan. No emotion attached. It almost seems like a cut and paste effort on behalf of the writer (the line, "Pulling demons out of little girls" pops up three times). No hint of imperatives that drive the 'characters' along. And I use the word characters loosely, because there is no actual development in the movie of the support cast. They are relegated to scenery or at most, plot devices. Constantine's 'scooby gang' consists of a sidekick taxi driver named Chas, a psychic priest, and a peddler of artifacts and trinkets. I can only remember the taxi drivers name because it gets said nearly as much as the title characters. And the end result is that when any of these support pieces meet their end, we just don't give a damn.
The story stops and starts, like a drunk with a violent stomach disorder. At one stage a bug demon turns up, for no apparent reason, 'bugs' Canoe, then goes splat on the windshield of a passing car. The special effects were passable, but of course we can expect cgi to be at least passable unless done on a Commodore64.
Stylistically (I think I just made that up) the film looks alright. Very much old school film noir. Lighting making the most of clichéd sets. My mum always used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it." If that was the case, this would be my only comment on the film.
People not familiar with the material will be confused about some of the interactions between protagonists, but should enjoy the film anyway. A monologue during the film, done like Ridley Scott's Bladerunner, would have smoothed over these bumps as well as added an extra dimension to the title character. Who knows? But people who are familiar with the source material, will be left scratching their heads saying, "How the hell did they screw that up so bad...?" The answer is in the differences between the two mediums.
This film is set in LA. Bright lights, big city. The comic is set primarily in England, with all its traditions and history. LA literally spits on tradition and history.
The title character, raven black hair and dark eyes, Malibu accent, Constantine, has power. He knows the way things work and uses the rules to get the job- usually an exorcism- done. He has toys too. A flame thrower of 'Dragon Breath' and a Holy Shotgun, both only included to sell whatever dodgy film tie in Playstation or X-box game they excrete. He also has the special gift/curse to see dead people. At some point in his history, it drives him insane and he attempts suicide.
In complete contrast is our comic version. Blond hair blue eyes, cockney accent, doesn't have real power. He knows a couple of tricks, can-trips really, and cant see dead people. But he gets by on bluff and bluster, using his wits instead of weapons to get the job done. He has knowledge of the way the supernatural world works, but aside from that, he's an ordinary man getting by in an extraordinary world.
The writer(Kevin Brodbin)at least referenced the comics for his screenplay, most notably the story arc, Dangerous Habits as a back story. Constantine giving the Devil 'the finger', was about as close to the character that Canoe was ever going to get, and was the films only redeeming feature. Really though, Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis should have been the ones to write any film adaption of their own work.
This film rates an eight out of ten. (On the disappointment scale)