Two hours in Hell with Keanu Reeves.

Rating: 4/10 (6 August 2012)

The film star here at least gets a role in which being monotonous is not such a bad thing. In this adaptation of the "Hellblazer" comic book series, John Constantine (Reeves) is a detective of sorts, dealing in the supernatural - dispatching demons, that sort of thing. He meets a young female detective, Angela Dodson, played by the beautiful Rachel Weisz. Angela's twin sister has committed suicide, and this serves as a catalyst for apocalyptic goings-on, as Angela, like her departed sibling, has had the ability to see strange things for many years now. Soon John, who has been to Hell and back, is battling the forces of darkness once again. Director Francis Lawrence unfortunately doesn't bring a lot of life to this nightmare story. The fact that it's as dreary as it is is actually acceptable given what kind of story it is, but it's kind of hard to care too much about the characters. There is some humour, but it's often of the dark variety, keeping in tone with the balance of the movie. The people who deserve the most credit are those creating all of the morbid visuals. One thing that can be said about "Constantine" is that it *looks* just great, with superb art direction, set decoration, cinematography, and various practical and digital special effects. However, these elements can only help so much as this film overall feels too familiar. Granted, it's got some good ideas, like using water as a conduit between worlds. And it does get better as it goes along, with a delicious confrontation between John and Satan himself, played with his typical flair by Peter Stormare. The supporting cast is extremely effective, with Tilda Swinton cast as the renegade angel Gabriel, Pruitt Taylor Vince as the frightened Father Hennessy, singer Gavin Rossdale (of the rock group Bush) as smooth and dapper villain Balthazar, the magnetic Djimon Hounsou as the character Midnite, and comedy relief provider Shia LaBeouf as John's sidekick Chas. The movie is generally quite oppressive, and it's easy to see how it could divide its viewers into "love it" or "hate it" camps. This viewer felt that it had its assets, but couldn't overcome a general lethargy. Four out of 10.