Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 4.0
A Hell Of A Good Time.
Based on the comic book, "Hellblazer," "Constantine" tells the story of John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a demon-hunter with special abilities who travels the country performing exorcisms and trying to get on God's good graces before he faces eternal damnation. It is established early on that he has a terminal illness, so the movie turns into a race against time. When Constantine teams up with a policewoman by the name of Angela (Rachel Weisz) whose identical twin sister may or may have not committed suicide, he sees one more chance for redemption. Following up his successful stint in the "Matrix" trilogy, Keanu handles the character effortlessly. I'm not too familiar with the comics, but in my head, he nailed the part. I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role (rumors say Nicholas Cage was originally set to play it...ugh). Rachel Weisz and her character compliment the character of "Constantine" and gives us something to be sympathetic too (she also looks great in a wet shirt). Alongside the two, the movie also co-stars Mr. Gwen Stefani himself, Gavin Rossdale (who is actually really good in this movie), Shia "Even Stevens" Lebeouf and Peter Stormare, who seems to have a little too much fun in the role of Satan. "Constantine" is full to the brim with disturbing images and arresting action sequences, as promised by the previews. No doubt, it's a pretty intense and involving movie. First time feature film director Francis Lawrence (whom, prior to this only handled music videos) shows us what he's made of and handles the movie effortlessly, with the skill of a director with much more experience. My main complaint with the movie though, is that the pace seems to be a bit chunky. Everytime a big action scene comes along, and you start to get focused on the material, it stops and we all unwind for about 20 minutes. The movie just doesn't seem to take off. It's good, no doubt, but it has that terminal flaw. It's hard to get into all the action when we keep getting relieved. It's still an exciting movie, and probably the best you're gonna see this time of year. It's got a bit of horror, a bit of black comedy, and a lot of action. Surely you could do worse.