Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 2.0
Strong Acting From Rachel Weisz Deserves a Better Script
So what's wrong with 'Constantine'? Contrary to my low expectations, it turned out not unentertaining film. You get solid production designs, you get moody photography by Philippe Rousselot ('River Runs Through it'), and you get an interesting story (at least, it looked so at the beginning). The opening ten minutes are very good even though it looks as if the ideas are borrowed from that Linda Blair film. I don't know whether or nor Keanu Reeves can really act, but you still get Rachel Weisz and Tilda Swinton. So why people, I mean some people, hate it?[WEAK SCRIPT] That's it, if you don't like Hollywood movies, 90 per cent of the reasons is this. The film, based on graphic novels I don't know, is about John Constantine played by Keanu Reeves, a dismal-looking, chain-smoking, way-too-cynical guy who distrusts people in general. And he doesn't care if his harsh words hurt the cop Angela (Weisz) whose twin sister has just been found dead.However, we have to believe that it is John Constantine who saves the world from the satanic powers (like 'The Matrix'), and that Angela holds the key to doing this job (like you know what). To make this ambitious premises work, the screenwriters should have created much more convincing characters than the present ones. Instead the film largely relies on the cliched ideas -- costly CGIs, gadgets provided by a 'M'-like scientist, and very basic (and misleading) concepts about heaven and hell, or the Catholic Church.[Why? IT'S TILDA SWINTON HERE!] It is not the actors who cannot act that really look awful among the lackluster movie; it is the actors who can act that suffer from the generic dialogues. So, it is Tilda Swinton who should have known better than playing Gabriel in ... er ... very unique costumes. The filmmaker must have decided on casting her after seeing her 'Orlando.' But 'Orlando' didn't require her to sport a pair of CGI-created wings on her shoulders, which add unexpected campiness to the film. Rachel Weisz is slightly better -- her role Angela is a much more complex role -- but for all her strong acting as Angela tormented by her sister's death, it is painfully clear that she has not found a right role in Hollywood yet. And Keanu Reeves? All I can say is that he shouldn't have used his middle finger to show the character's anger. If sticking up his finger is the best he can do to be in character, and it's done to Peter Stormare clad in white suit, what can I say?But like I said, he tries to save the day, and we are supposed to see things from his viewpoint. He has a special power to see things, things in hell in particular; he can fight a bunch of nasty half-devils, and he can introduce us to many visually stunning scenes helped by modern special effects. But one problem is, it sounds like 'The Matrix' trilogy.