Despite a few good performances, the movie has way too many problems.

Rating: 4/10 (1 February 2005)

I got to see this a few months ago at a preview screening and it decent nothing great but a little disappointing.
Constantine tells the story of a urban sorcerer (Keanu Reeves) who helps a cop (Rachel Weisz) look into her sister's death which was cause by supernatural forces that is trying to steal souls and cause a war on earth. They both must stop an evil that not only threatens their safety but the fabric of the boarders of hell itself, which threatens to break wide open. It's a decent movie with some pretty good effects but it's hindered by a couple of glaring problems. One of them is in fact Keanu Reeves and if you call his range as an actor a series of glum expressions and moments of him staring into space for no reason at all, than you pretty much got him nailed. The character he plays is just as bewildering as Keanu Reeves himself and is in fact the most underdeveloped character in the entire film.
Which leads to the next glaring problem, which is the fact that you don't really give a crap about his character. His character is really an asshole that does not treat people well and abuses himself to the point of death. The funny part of all of this (and the part that make absolutely no sense once you really think about it) is that he wants redemption and is willing to put himself in jeopardy in order to secure a spot for him in heaven, despite the fact that he still does not treat himself or others well. Even with the knowledge that he's not good health does not make you care about him and that's a real testament on how much of an asshole the character is in this film. Now I can understand the reason why the people who made this film wanted to have a character like John Constantine in it. People always love the reluctant hero, who is sometimes very shady and is not always thinking of others best interest but himself. But when he's needed, he always does the right thing when it matters the most. You know whom I mean, the Han Solos or the Captain Jack Sparrows that make the movie much more interesting than it is. Now the big difference between those characters and the character of John Constantine is the fact that you do see their humanity despite how shady they seem and you still want to spend more time with them regardless of their faults. On top of that, you had actors who knew how to show you those things when they needed to be shown and give you a reason to believe in their characters despite of their short comings. Keanu Reeves on the other hand fails miserably in doing that because he does not have it in him to pull it off and the fact that the script itself does not show any humanity in the character is a big problem all in itself. Another problem this movie has is the fact that the story is really something we have all seen before on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with all the demons and half breeds that populate that show, but in a much bigger scale and with better special effects. The story is much more than an episode of that show but it still is in the same ballpark. There are some good things to say about the movie that does kind of outweigh the bad. Rachel Weisz's performance as the cop and her doom twin sister is much better than the film itself and much more realistic than the actual story. You really do root for her and hope she does overcomes the problems she's facing, which is a blessing when you think about it because of how much of a drag Keanu Reeve's character is to the film itself. The worlds of heaven and hell itself in also pretty interesting, giving you the impression of how close they are to themselves and of the actual world that we live in. There is a scene that has Constantine trying to get a demon out of a little girl that is a little scary and some of the demons do look creepy enough to give you a brief pause when you look at them, so it does have a good scare or two in the film but it's really an action flick with supernatural elements thrown in for effect.
The twist in the ending is pretty inventive but typical when it involves the lead character doing something noble for a change.
To put it all in perspective. It's decent for what it is but with Keanu playing a character as befuddled as he is as an actor, the movie is only held together by the great performance of Rachel Weisz and a few good scares that are few and far between.