Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 3.0
Neo's Bogus Adventure
The movie has a good script, good effects, good direction, excellent cinematography, and some decent performances, but is badly undermined by the disastrous miscasting of Keanu Reeves as Constantine. Reeves is a somewhat limited actor who can be good in the right role, but this isn't it. Constantine's acid cynicism is simply beyond Reeves's range. Since Reeves obviously isn't up to the task of Constantine's British accent, Constantine has been arbitrarily transformed into an American. Presumably, the studio was hoping to lure Matrix fans by casting Reeves. They would have been better advised to trust the material and find an actor such as James Marsters who could do the character properly, cynicism, accent, and all. Fans of the Constantine Hellblazer stories will probably be most disappointed. If you aren't already familiar with the Constantine character, you may be less disturbed by how badly Reeves misses the mark.