Another fun movie that sucks

Rating: 5/10 (29 July 2005)

John Constatine is so jaded -after all hes been to hell and back- that he wears a perpetual snarl. This in itself is probably the best I've seen from the lack-of-character actor, Keanu Reeves. Dare I say he played well the role of the stoic, gritty angel?
Constatine is challenged by Detective Angela Dodsen (Rachel Weisz) who, like her twin sister who committed suicide and is thus banished to hell), is also one of the few talents who can see the demons. Angela wants somehow to prove that her sister was actually murdered, and I guess somehow get her sister out of hell.
The movie opens with an exorcism and some wild special effects, and throughout there's always the promise of some exciting effects to be had. Well, we've seen good fx before, but how many movies let you hang around hell for a while. That was cool too.
In between the cool scenes, though, Constatine is miserable, which sort of permeates the film. Demons are escaping into "our plane" but the acting is weak so you never get a sense that the danger is real. Even Satan appears but he doesn't look dangerous, he just looks like the journey-man actor that he is, Peter Stormare.
I cant compare it to the comic book, since I've never read it, but I shudder to think how long its been since weve seen the really great demon movies such as the Exorcist and the Omen.