A Pleasant Unpleasant Surprise

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2005)

I went along to Constantine in the expectation of seeing a car crash. I have been a long time fan of many Vertigo titles and Hellblazer was always one of the best. Therefore when I saw that a movie was being made of this very dark, very English character and it was to be set in LA and starring Keanu, I saw a movie with a potential awfulness approaching Gigli-like proportions.
What surprised me was despite the oddities of casting, budget and location, just how true it was to the spirit of the original. This is a very dark, very unpleasant and, yes, very funny film.
Whilst the 9/10 I have given this film possibly exaggerates its quality, there was so much to like, because there aren't many mainstream movies taking these kind of risks these days. How many films in the past 20 years have dared to have a "hero" character so unpleasant to all around him and with such a dark sense of humor? When the final battle between good and evil hits what does the hero do? He slits his wrists and dies Sure, it's all part of his plan, but this is the kind of thing that Spiderman is not likely to do.
During the screening I went to two wonderful things happened: Firstly, there was a staggered stream of people leaving because they were confused or offended or angry. This hasn't happened in too long that I can recall. Movies are being market researched into oblivion to stop this kind of phenomena occurring. I was glad to see that some movies can still have that power.
Secondly, of the people that remained about ten laughed heartily throughout the film, the remainder laughed occasionally or not at all. This film is a black, black comedy and unless you realize that you will just be sitting in the dark thinking "what are they on about?".
Any film that has conversation as dry as Archangel Gabriel responding "But you've seen him, that doesn't count" to someone saying that they believe in God is worth the admission. This gives me faith that the proposed "Preacher" movie might possibly work, but I've been disappointed before