Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 2.0
The power of a good trailler
For starters, I want to say that I have never read Hellblazer's comic books - although I should have, since John Constantine is a product of Alan Moore's mind - so I'm not biased to criticize this movie based on the comic book series. This review is about the movie, and only the movie.I think Keanu Reeves is one of the worst mainstream Holywood actors - "The devil's advocate" is there to prove it - but after viewing the trailler of "Constantine" I intended to watch the movie, because battles between Heaven and Hell, CGI demons and, most of all, Rachel Weisz - I'll watch anything when she `s cast - have always attracted my attention.The trailler is great - maybe because Keanu Reeves' only lines are the whispering "This is Constantine... John Constantine..." - but the movie is a only a pale shadow of what's shown in the teaser. OK, there are some good visuals, the images of Hell are interesting and Miss Weisz is as beautiful as ever, and a competent actress also, carrying the weight of this flop in her back alone. But the good things stop there. The script is pathetic. There's no story. There's no final confrontation. Worst of all, there's no battle between Heaven and Hell, or Good and Evil. Character development is nill. We only know that Constantine... John Constantine has been to Hell and came back, and he's trying to beat the world record of most cigarretes smoked in a movie (record presently shared by William Hurt and Mel Gibson). That Chas character was pitiful, an expendable sidekick used to make the audience go mad at the Devil's son's harsh intentions. I don't remember any other characters. Oh, yes, the drunk priest and the voodoo club owner. And Tilda Swinton as the archangel Gabriel. Nevermind. Acting is completely lame - with the exception of Rachel Weisz. Keanu Reeves does the best that he can do, which is close to nothing. The Neo thing, I guess. The worst of all is Peter Stormare portraying the Devil like a circus buffoon. Even the visual effects are bad. Two ro three scenes at most, and they're all displayed in the trailler.Anyway, this movie is not good. This is no way to spend a hundred million dollars. I can understand Hallblazer's fans anger towards this movie. There's very little to be praised in "Constantine". I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.Grade 3.5/10