Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 2.0
An Occult Movie Which Fails.
_Constantine_ is a blasphemous occult movie starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, a suicide trapped between heaven and hell, and Rachel Weisz as his side-kick, the sister of a suicide and possessor of occult powers, which fails to deliver. The movie presents itself as religious farce, but is simply too disconnected to achieve anything even remotely resembling coherence. We are led to believe that demons actively battle angels on earth; yet, at the same time we are told that they cannot cross over. We are provided with disconnected images involving various occult practices, including the use of water as an occult lubricant to facilitate travel to the other world, as well as the use of an old electric chair, formerly used to fry criminals, now used to achieve occult transcendence. The journeys of the main character to hell are unconvincing, and the plot is virtually nonexistent. Apparently, the Spear of Longinus, the spear used to pierce the side of Christ as he lay dying on the Cross and believed to give its bearer control over the destiny of the world, makes an appearance; however, the role of this occult relic in the main storyline seems contrived. The movie claims to be based on Catholic theology, but entirely neglects the role of Purgatory in the process of Salvation. Lucifer also makes an appearance, but his bare-footed character is not at all how I would imagine the Prince of Darkness. God does not appear in this movie! As others have noted, about the only thing redeeming this movie at all is the performance of Rachel Weisz. She does a great job, but unfortunately the rest of this movie is so much hodge-podge glued together that it fails to deliver.