Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 4.0
A COOL COMIC BOOK FLICK 8.5 OUT OF 10
I generally hate comic book films because they suck miserably. Aside from this, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Hellboy, I pretty much hate everything else. I was disappointed that this film got mixed reviews from critics and moviegoers, but I enjoyed it for what it was and I believe it to be underappreciated.WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The story is about John Constantine; a chain-smoking, pissed off exorcist who has been barred from the gates of Heaven, but must do God's work by deporting half-breed demons (Part human, part demon) who break the rules back to Hell, who gets caught up with a detective named Angela, who believes her sister Isabel didn't commit suicide and wants John to investigate as to why she killed herself. While this is going on, John finds out that full-fledged demons are entering the Earth when they are not permitted to and breaking the rules and now they're after him and Angela. While this is going on, a man armed with the Spear of Destiny (A spear that it Catholic beliefs killed Jesus when it pierced his side and not the crucifixion) is traveling to Los Angeles where most of the story takes place because he is possessed and as he goes along, kills animals and makes people become demon-possessed. Now John and Angela must find out what is going on both sides and why this is happening. Unfortunately, the story gets confusing and becomes difficult to follow; the lowest point of the film.MUSIC: The musical score in this film is quite good and knows how to set the mood.ACTING: Although some people complain about Keanu Reeves's (The Matrix trilogy, Speed) acting, I didn't think he was bad in this film or any other film he's been in. Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, Enemy at the Gates) has generally always been a good actress and there's no exception here. The rest of the actors were pretty good as well; except Shia LaBeouf, his character; Chazz; was just annoying as hell. The actors overall did a good job, even if the story and some parts of their dialogue were somewhat muddled.ACTION: This is where the film shines. The action scenes were generally pretty good, coupled with some of the best CGI effects you'll ever see in a film and this film gives one of the most interesting perspectives on what Hell looks like and it's quite creepy and frightening. This film has a number of clever weapon designs like the shotgun that fires ammo from golden shells made from melted crucifixes. The action scenes could be explosive and even has touches of gore. Nicely done.OVERALL: This film might offend anyone who is overly religious and they will probably claim this film to be Satanic. Those who aren't so overly touchy about religion should not be offended. If you like action flicks with an interesting twist, Constantine is definitely worth a look even if the storyline stumbles. This is indeed one of the better comic book-based films around.THE GOOD: Amazing CGI, cool actions, good acting, good music, and an interesting storyline.THE BAD: Storyline is confusing, the film can run into some moments of boredom, and Shia LaBeouf.