Better Than Expected

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2005)

I'm sort of in and out of comics these days, I know plenty about them but I'm not the die-hard fan I used to be. Hellblazer or Constantine was comic I knew but didn't exactly want to see in theaters, until I saw the trailer. After seeing it, I felt the movie had turned out better than I had ever expected, even with a newbie director and a team of actors who normally delivered performances that were nothing short of abysmal, but managed to pull out a pretty good performance. Keanu Reeves actually delivered just this, as well as Weisz and Labeouf, But by the supporting acting was what brought the movie together. Throughout there is a share of horror, humor, and a plenty of action, though not much of either genre. and while the movie has its share of cheesy moments (And is fairly predictable, though this predictability is wiped away thanks to a few plot twists), they are realistically cheesy, like you'd expect any real person to be just as cheesy. And finally, the direction Francis Lawrence provided was a high-point on his resume (At first, a new director worried me, but I'm pleased by his performance). In all, this movie is a sort of hardcore blend between the Exorcist and the Matrix, only with some humorous backing from Keanu's portrayal of Constantine (Perfect playing the smart-Aleck side of Constantine, but also playing the bitter, angry side as well). This movie doesn't deserve any harsh comments, but at the same time it isn't a classic, it's between the two only shifting more and more towards the ranking of a classic, perfectly balanced between the genres of horror, action, fantasy, and humor. Good movie, I'd see it again in theaters.