Too bad...

Rating: Null/10 (16 November 2005)

If ever a film needed a clear mind and a firm hand this was it. Constantine was always going to find it hard to win the approval of the multiplex crowd due to the dark nature and bleak outlook of both its story and title character. Lacking the kind of built-in mass-market appeal of the likes of Batman, it would have to rely on stunning visuals and spectacular special effects as well as a riveting storyline to stand any chance of real success. As we all now know, it was a relative failure at the box-office, failing to even recoup its estimated budget in the US, and found few champions amongst the critics, gaining mixed reviews at best.
The film itself attempts to fuse the noir ambiance of those shadowy PI tales of the 40s with the more contemporary spectacle of fantasy/horror which, on paper at least, should provide an intriguing and engrossing fable. And there is an epic aspect to the story, with its focus on demons and angels roaming a world that is the subject of a wager between their masters. But it is this ambitious sub-plot that derails what should be a potent concoction by providing an abundance of religious iconography that influences the direction of the tale in ways that damage the film as entertainment, despite presenting some tantalising glimpses of what could have been a fascinating exploration of good and evil and the grey in-between.
Constantine is an exorcist of demons trying to step over into our world whose motivation is entirely personal Â– even though he is at first unable to see it. A suicide at an early age, he died for two minutes and sampled, as an appropriately punished Catholic, the damnations of hell before being resurrected. Doomed to return upon his final demise, he sends demons back to hell in the hope of buying his way into heaven. To make matters worse, he's running out of time: his lungs are black with cancer and he has a year left at best. Now this is the sort of subject matter that should either draw you in or repel you, depending on what floats your boat. Personally, I can't get enough of this dark stuff, so it's surprising that the film Constantine almost completely fails to convince you of the verisimilitude of its world. The effects look spectacular, but too often they get in the way of the plot rather than advancing it, and seem to serve too often as an inadequate substitute for atmosphere. This over-reliance on the fantastical also tends to leave the story so unfocused at times that the plot strays close to incoherence as it begins to spread in uncoordinated directions like an unattended stain. It's a shame, because the first half-hour or so looked promising.
Keanu Reeves performs with all the integrity of a bloated movie star with a guaranteed pay packet. After twenty years in the business he still can't act, and seems to be attempting a kind of moody Clint Eastwood impersonation here. Needless to say, it doesn't work and Rachel Weisz, an appealing actress with only marginally more talent than her co-star, finds it tough to play off him with any success. Neither are helped by a script that stubbornly refuses to attempt anything more than a cursory study of their characters, leaving the audience dangerously adrift with no-one to care or root for. Tilda Swinton is a highlight as an angel called Gabriel, but her role is too small for her to make more than a passing impression, as is that of Peter Stormare's Satan.
Despite its bad points, Constantine possesses some great ideas and it would be interesting to see a sequel that expands a little on the characters in the story while taking a step back from the special effects. After this first film's dismal performance, however, the chances of one turning up in the next few years appear decidedly small.