Neither good nor bad

Rating: 4/10 (6 March 2005)

Constantine is the movie version of comic book/graphic novel Hellblazer. I hadn't even heard of Hellblazer until I heard about Constantine. Therefore, I cannot say if Constantine is a good or bad adaptation. What I can say, however, is that it's an okay film in its own right. It's neither good or bad.
What I liked about Constantine was the look of the movie when it comes to cinematography and production design. I also liked that, for a movie I imagined to be action packed, the action scenes weren't that many. There _are_ quite a few action scenes of course, but the movie doesn't seem to be all about the next big action set piece.
Now, what I didn't like was the special effects. They're not bad, but a demon made out of bugs made me think of The Mummy and that is never good. When it comes to demons in movies I believe that less is more. At least if you want the audience to feel suspense. I also had a problem with the slow pace. The movie was about two hours long, but it felt more like 2½ hours.
When you know you're going to watch a Keanu Reeves film you know not to expect great acting. At least not from Mr Reeves himself. However, I must say that Constantine is the type of movie where at least I didn't notice that Keanu Reeves isn't very good. I think the role of Constantine suited him rather well.
So, Constantine is a rather good film. Unfortunately it is also slow-paced, boring at times and too long. (4/10)