Mostly incomprehensible, but otherwise pretty

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2012)

Keanu Reeves clashes with Satan...again.
Adapted from the comic-book Hellblazer (but renamed to avoid confusion with Hellboy and Hellraiser), John Constantine first appeared in an issue of Swamp Thing and soon got his own series. The character is from Liverpool but the movie version transplants him to LA (it's a more photogenic environment, let's be honest). He's supposed to be a psychic, occult detective but it's never explicitly mentioned what he is in the movie, which is the first instance of confusion the viewer will encounter.
Constantine ends up involved in a plot with LAPD detective Angela Dodson and her dead twin sister (both played by the lovely Rachel Weisz) which leads to confrontations with various angels and demons. So much happens in this film, but hardly any of it is explained. Don't get me wrong, I hate endless exposition, but Francis Lawrence tries to deliver virtually ALL of it with visual storytelling and it just doesn't work. There are so many random, unintelligible and moments that will alienate many viewers render the bulk of the film completely incomprehensible.
Francis Lawrence fills the movie with lots of symmetrical photography and beautifully eloquent shots that act as a muted counterpoint to the fake CGI, and the sound design is thankfully down-played. In the hands of a less-talented director (Brett Ratner, Len Wiseman) this film would have been loud and unsightly with lots of stutter-cuts and 'impossible camera' shots. I'm glad that Lawrence does not use this approach for his feature films.
It all looks very pretty, but it'll last in your memory about 5 seconds after the credits roll (there's a scene after the credits too).