Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 3.0
Catholicism Meets The Comics
While I wouldn't use "Constantine" as a source for any studies on Catholicism(or Christianity as a whole), I will admit that it is a decent flick to watch when there's a little time to kill. I'm not familiar with the comics that this film is supposed to be based on, so I'll look at it as a stand-alone entity.The story plods along at a snails pace, but the special effects are pretty good, especially the visions of Hell. The opening exorcism is one of the best parts of the film. Although Keanu Reeves catches a lot of grief over his performance in this flick, I think that his acting skills were perfect for this particular story. Rachel Weisz is also very good in this film. She tackles a briefly dual role as psychic sisters. Her character's supposedly Catholic beliefs come into question when she mentions that she doesn't believe in Satan. That's almost like saying you're a Catholic and you're pro-abortion. That's two things that just don't go together.The Catholicism in this story is treated very lightly. It's almost as if they just used Christianity as a cool looking backdrop for Constantine to eradicate things in. The Crucifix-looking gun was rather silly looking, but Constantine did have some other nice weapons in his arsenal.Once again, a well-known angel plays the fall guy and much like in films like "The Prophecy," everything boils down to the baddie-supreme: Satan(a.k.a. Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Devil, Angel of Light, etc.).While I won't say that everyone will enjoy this film, I'm sure fans of modest action flicks will enjoy this. Some Catholics will probably be turned off by the sacrilege and the ability of Satan to do certain things in the film. However, if you take this flick for what it is worth, which is a popcorn-ish adult action/horror yarn, you'll be sure to enjoy it.