'Constantine' contains a smörgåsbord of characters and ideas, but music video director Francis Lawrence, in his first film, holds it all together...

Rating: 8/10 (25 April 2005)

Constantine
John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has been seeing terrifying demonic visions all his life, but has mostly kept them to himself. In his adulthood, he uses his "gift" to send "half-breeds" back to where they came from, using whatever means necessary to do so. When Isabel Dodson (Rachel Weisz), a mental patient who has also suffered from similar visions, kills herself, her twin sister Angela (also played by Weisz), a police officer with an uncanny ability to distinguish friend from foe, as well as a devout Catholic, refuses to believe that Isabel was responsible for her actions, and seeks out Constantine for a more supernatural investigation. Constantine is at first reluctant to help, but then realises that there may be more to Isabel's suicide than meets the eye.
While 'Constantine' is a highly successful comic book film, it's interesting how this is very similar to the Wachowski Brothers' 'Matrix' trilogy. For starters, both are produced through a continuing collaboration between Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow in Australia, both tinker with the opening studio logos, both star Keanu Reeves, both have a slightly green tinted colour scheme, both have dazzling special effects, and both are very enjoyable. The film contains a smörgåsbord of characters and ideas, but music video director Francis Lawrence, in his first film, holds it all together, and also makes the film quite chilling at times (take for example a scene where Angela's phones start ringing all around her apartment). Keanu Reeves is his usual stony self here, but he is aided by memorable supporting performances from the likes of Tilda Swinton as the Angel Gabriel, Djimon Hounsou as witch doctor Papa Midnite, and Peter Stormare as none other thanwell, I'll let you find out. But it's Rachel Weisz who shines the most, and convinces as the heroine of the picture.
~ 8/10 ~