Product: Constantine [Blu-ray] (2012)
Rating: 3.0
Not nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be.
Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005)Take a British chainsmoking paranormal detective and decide to make a movie based on one of his cases. Quick, who's your first casting choice? Bet "Keanu Reeves" wasn't the first name to come tripping off your lips. Yet it was someone's, and thus John Constantine trades his trademark accent and Silk Cuts for Reeves' surfer-boy drawl and what seem to be Marlboros, though at one point Beeman brings him a box of what look like Dunhills from a distance. (We never see him with a Dunhill pack in his hand, though.)That said, the movie did turn out oodles better than I expected it to. In this episode (for we know this is going to turn into a film franchise, don't we, kiddies?...though how that will happen given some of the events in the film's closing half-hour I'm not sure), Constantine is contacted by Angela Dodson, a police detective (Enemy at the Gates' Rachel Weisz) whose twin sister recently committed suicide at the local mental hospital. (Odd point: when was the last time you saw a mental hospital as large as Ravenscar is depicted here?) Constantine at first refuses to help her, but changes his mind, and very quickly finds himself embroiled in extremely nasty events that put not only him, but his contingent of friends, in great danger.The strangest thing about the movie is the portrayal of Constantine himself. Not only is he now American (and not smoking nearly as much as one would think Constantine would), but he's, well, a nicer guy. He's presented here as someone who understands the value of give-and-take, as opposed to the almost violently selfish Constantine of the graphic novels (and the film's portrayal makes some of Weisz' lines, while they're talking about Constantine's past, ring rather oddly). Still, the script jettisons kinder, gentler Constantine as often as needed, usually for laughs at the expense of Chas (Holes' Shia LaBeouf in what should be his breakout role), John's everpresent sidekick.All that aside, the story has some semblance of coherence and doesn't wander off into too many distractions, unlike the comics upon which it's based. As I alluded to previously, some of the things that happen in the final scenes are going to make doing sequels rough if they have any intention of remaining faithful to the books, but the end is definitely set up for a Constantine 2.I get the feeling this is one that will leave most people going "eh. It was okay." **