Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 3.0
"I died once, I know what hell is like"
Constantine is a totally preposterous movie, but there is something quite engaging about the film. The way the film combines a dynamic noir visual style with the more traditional horror motifs is both exciting and compelling, and for all its faults, Constantine is not a hesitant film, but it's not really a successful one either. Full of some dizzying special effects, and some fairly good acting, the film's director could probably be forgiven for constructing a story that doesn't make a lot of sense.Keanu Reeves, stars as the enigmatic visionary John Constantine. John has been having bad time of it of late. He's been a chain smoker since fifteen and he's just found out that he has terminal lung cancer. He's not letting this stop him from doing his job tough. Recently he's discovered that "half-breeds" or hell demons are trying to take over the world and are using humans as a vehicle to "cross over." We first meet John when he is trying to stop a hell demon from burrowing its way through a teenage girl's stomach.Constantine is well versed on half-breeds. He actually died once and saw them when he went to hell so he is well aware of the constant conflict that rages between heaven and hell. It isn't some distant, unfathomable struggle; it is being played out in the here-and-now, with the souls of human beings as the battleground. John is certain that he will eventually go to hell, so he spends his life playing the role of the reluctant hero - hoping against hope that he can buy his way into heaven.His efforts however, seem to be in vain. It's not that John is a bad person; it's just that he lacks faith as the angelic Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) - complete with sprouting wings - hastens to tell him. So the bitter protagonist goes through life hoping for redemption and thinking of hell, while also being haunted by various machinations of the devil. The unsavory Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale) is out to send Constantine to the dark depths forever and delights in the news that our valiant hero is dying.John eventually gets some help from intrepid, gutsy cop, Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz). Angela is also a visionary, and she's fraught with sadness after her sister Isabel - a self-confessed Catholic - committed suicide. Angela is positive that Isabel didn't suicide on purpose, but how can she find out for sure? Perhaps Constantine can help her unlock Isabel's secret and help put her sister's soul to rest. When John finds out that the devil's son has possessed an illegal Mexican immigrant and plans on unleashing hell on earth he prepares to set himself opposite the greatest evil this planet has known.Thematically the movie is pretty much a mess. Suicide, Catholicism, the nature of good and evil, and the origin of sin are all trying to contend for prominence in the story. The film works best when it doesn't take itself too seriously and lets the special effects take over. There's one really cool scene about half way through where Angela is ripped through a building, it looks great but it doesn't make much sense.In fact, most of the special effects - mostly in the form of a lot of splashing water and breaking glass - look like second-rate outtakes from the Matrix movies. They're satisfactory, but they aren't anything special and they don't really push the envelope. Even the hellfire-tinged mirror images of Los Angeles and the hedonistic bowels of a nightclub that caters to both angels and demons look a bit lackluster and not nearly as visually arresting as they could be.Keanu Reeves looks great but he has a habit of mumbling and I found it hard to understand what he was saying some of the time. Leave it to the gorgeous Rachel Weisz who as Angela lends some class to the proceedings. You can't think too much while watching this movie, as the plot makes no sense.Subplots are dropped without explanation, background exposition remains unexplained, and there are some absolutely ludicrous turns of events. However, the film will no doubt appeal to those viewers who are fans of vivid cinematic comic book adaptations, and perhaps also to those who like their horror films tinged with the fanciful and the far-fetched. Mike Leonard July 05.