Scattered pieces of brilliance . . . but could have been better

Rating: 7/10 (6 March 2005)

Constantine has all the great elements of an amazing film: a moving plot, a convincing and fallible hero, moments of creative dialogue, and a profound philosophical message. However, despite being able to point out all of these elements, the movie still comes across as being only marginally good and by no means amazing. Somewhere in the process of making this film, the instruction manual for good movies was lost, and all the pieces were thus thrown together haphazardly. And it almost works. Constantine almost achieves the amazing emotional fulfillment that great movies offer, but it somehow falls short. Numerous unrelated events deviate from the otherwise powerful storyline, and you feel like you are reading an essay about the meaning of life where entire paragraphs have been devoted to something completely unrelated. These distracting elements are not unforgivable, but they do take the focus away from the powerful themes of life, death, redemption, purpose, and justice.
So, if you want a movie that deals with these themes in a less-than-perfect way while offering a few thrills and scares along the way, Constantine is for you. But if you expect it to be the ultimate dark, philosophical tale that it could have been, you will be disappointed.