Quite good while not perfect

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2006)

Disclaimer: I did not read the comics.
The following are strong points of the film (imho).

Well thought-out plot. No dead ends, no unexplained moves, not quite easy to predict.

Solid characters. Characters are not hollow, but full of details, and aren't neither poster-good nor poster-bad. They never act silly; character's actions can mostly be tracked back to his/her personality. Yes, they've got personalities.

Hollywood boilerplate tricks are ignored and sometimes made mild mockery of. There's not a single crashed car in the film, not a single hot chase, no episodes of frantic noisy-flashy shooting, no prolonged acrobatic fistfights; this all makes the movie more life-like. The main female character never gets stripped (even in the most provoking episodes). Main male character and main female character never fall in love, and don't even kiss -- while it is evident that they do care about each other a lot.

Special effects are well-placed. Most of them aren't even noticeable unless you start to think how it could be filmed. While hell is one big SFX, it sports no needless flashiness, or gore and slime, etc. Satan has no monstrous body. Artifacts and weapons are not over-sized (well, almost); magic does not produce fountains of light and such. It looks quite natural.

Now the weak points.

Keanu Reeves plays his character is a way not as detailed as the character needs. Often when character's face has to be rich with subtle emotions, he fails to express them.

Several characters are rather cursory, barely enough to unfold the story; I'd like to see a bit more of their lives, for added depth.