Constantine

Plot synopsis:
God and Lucifer have a standing wager for the souls of all mankind. Angels and demons are forbidden to manifest on Earth; instead, their hybrid off-springs (human-angel and human-demon) can be used to influence humans.
In a church ruin in a Mexican countryside, a scavenger named Manuel finds a spearhead wrapped in a Nazi flag, which is later revealed as the Spear of Destiny. Manuel becomes possessed and begins to make his way to the US.
Exorcist John Constantine exorcises a girl possessed by a soldier demon trying to break through to Earth, something that should not be possible under the wager's rules. He meets with the androgynous half-angel being Gabriel. He asks Gabriel for a reprieve from his impending death from lung cancer. Gabriel declines, telling Constantine that he exorcises demons for selfish reasons and will not earn his way to Heaven.
After being assaulted by another demon, Constantine goes to former witch doctor Papa Midnite, who runs a club serving as neutral ground where half-breeds do not have to conceal themselves. Midnite does not believe Constantine's claim of demons crossing over. Constantine leaves, after exchanging hostile words with half-demon Balthazar.
Elsewhere, a woman named Isabel Dodson commits suicide in a psychiatric hospital. Her twin sister, Detective Angela Dodson, refuses to believe Isabel, a devout Catholic, would kill herself. Watching security footage of Isabel's suicide, Angela hears her saying Constantine's name. Angela finds Constantine and asks him to help investigate. After they are attacked by winged demons, which Constantine believes were targeting Angela, he agrees to help.
Constantine briefly transports himself to Hell, and sees Isabel damned to eternally relive her suicide. He briefs his findings to Angela. He explains to her that he was born with the power to see the true nature of the half-breeds. He committed suicide to escape his visions, but was saved by paramedics. However, for the sin of taking his own life, his soul is destined for Hell. The two examine Isabel's room in the hospital and find a clue pointing to a prophecy that Lucifer's son, Mammon, will attempt to claim Earth as his own kingdom. To do so, Mammon requires a powerful psychic and assistance from God.
Angela tells Constantine that Isabel was a clairvoyant and a psychic, and was committed by her parents as a result. Angela had the same gifts, but suppressed it. At Angela's insistence, Constantine reawakens her psychic ability through a near death experience. She immediately finds a clue pinpointing Balthazar as an accomplice to the plot. Constantine interrogates Balthazar, who reveals that Mammon has the Spear, stained with the blood of Christ - the assistance from God. Angela, now the psychic in place of Isabel, is abducted by an invisible entity and impregnated by Manuel.
Constantine convinces Midnite that the demons are breaking the wager's rules. With Midnite's help, Constantine finds out how the Spear emerged and Angela's location. Constantine arms himself, and goes to the hospital, accompanied by his driver and apprentice Chas Kramer. The two fight their way through an army of half-demons and exorcise a possessed Angela. However, Chas is killed by the invisible entity, which turns out to be Gabriel. Resenting God’s favoritism towards humans, the half-angel plans to unleash Hell on Earth to weed out those deemed "unworthy" of God’s love. Gabriel casts Constantine from the room and prepares to use the Spear to cut Mammon free from Angela.
Out of options, Constantine slits his wrists. As he bleeds out, Lucifer arrives to personally collect his soul. Constantine tells Lucifer of Mammon's plan to usurp him. Lucifer easily overpowers Gabriel, burns Gabriel's wings and banishes Mammon. In return for his help, Lucifer grants Constantine a favor. Constantine asks that Isabel be released to Heaven. Lucifer complies, but then realizes that he cannot take Constantine to Hell. By selflessly sacrificing himself, Constantine is granted entry to Heaven. Infuriated, Lucifer heals Constantine's injuries and cures him of cancer, hoping he will eventually make a mistake and damn himself again. Angela and Constantine depart, leaving the now human Gabriel. Sometime later, Constantine, now making an effort to quit smoking, entrusts the Spear to Angela.
In a post-credits scene, Constantine visits Chas' grave, where Chas appears in an angelic form and flies away.

Tags: paranormal

Review:
Being a MASSIVE fan of the Hellblazer comics, I was dead excited to see that they were finally going to bring an accurate version of John Constantine to life.
It's true to the source material (making it different from both Arrow and Gotham) without being a slave to it (making it worth watching instead of just reading).Matt Ryan and Angelica Celaya's on-screen chemistry is exquisite, sexual tension real but not overpowering.
Special effects whose corniness is justified by the circumstances, and to my mind the most important bit: real, human stories.Amidst the occult, the psychic, the voodoo and the demonic, the show is about redemption, worldview, escaping, and struggling with "inner demons." Constantine is entertaining, but more than giving you something to care about, it gives you something to relate to.
They are going to do one of two things-- U.S. network programming that isn't specifically called a "Mini-series" either runs- on till it runs out of plot line or gets canceled with no conclusion worth the name.
I'm not a big comic book fan and I never knew the character prior to the film, but for what is worth I enjoyed it back in the day and I was hoping for more for a long time.The series starts off on the right note and with a proper rhythm.
The Hellblazer comic was supposed to be a intelligent look at a warlock named John Constantine who is a complete lying and con man.
First of all , hats off to Matt Ryan for actually bringing the crazy witty bastard we all know as John Constantine to life.
I just finished episode 1 and like Gothem having Frank Miller & Bob Kane (probably the best writers of Batman comics and going way back ) on the writing staff, this show Constantine will be appreciated by fans for what hopefully will be a sustained effort at excellence in writing and faithfulness to character.
The Hellblazer of Alan Moore and Garth Ennis is a deeply flawed and nuanced John Constantine and with Chaz and Zed at his side this wrecking crew are sure to make a dent in hell's plots.Other Comic luminaries that worked on the monumental character are Dave McKean, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman and Stephen Bissette.
I have also watched the movie which I did enjoy, as well as John Constantine's limited presence in other series..
Being a fan of the character for a long time, I can say THIS is THE John Constantine I'd hoped for in the barf-of-a-movie that everybody seems to love (Keannu Reeves as Hellblazer?
My expectations were accordingly measured.However, I'm an avid watcher of series like Supernatural (yes, still) True Blood and Hemlock Grove, besides more gritty fare such as American Horror Story and Hannibal.
I adore horror, and so I figured there was no reason not to give Constantine a go.With that in mind, watching the pilot episode, I tried to think of this simply as a new, American supernatural TV drama series.
Sadly, all attempts at acting are instantly bulldozed by the ham-fisted direction.In the end, I am left with the simple question "why bother?" The answer, sadly, probably has more to do with DC Comics' fervent wish to scramble onto the coattails of Marvel's recent success in film and television, and very little with any real interest in making a worthwhile TV version of Hellblazer/Constantine.Perhaps the pilot—as is often the case—is poorly representative of the series as it will continue.
Instead of being mesmerized by an original story, I felt like watching an episode of Supernatural season 4 or 5 (which were not bad), but I found that Constantine was missing the originality that made the comic so entertaining.I look forward to future episodes to see if the series will pick up the pace or if I will move on to something else.
Based on a comic (Hellrazer) this supernatural thriller series follows the adventures of John Constantine, a dark exorcist, occult detective and con man.An anti-hero himself, Constantine, struggling with his own sins as he tries to protect humanity from evil supernatural forces.Matt Ryan is suitable for the main role although his qualities are totally different from those of Keanu Reeves who played the titular character in the 2005 movie.The series will remain more faithful to the comic than the 2005 film but the depiction of Constantine's as a hard smoker will be absent due to broadcast television restrictions!!!
So I was wondering around the internet today and found Constantine.After hearing about it a while back and watching the trailer I didn't expect much form it and honestly I thought it would be a shitty attempt of reviving one of my favorite Keanu movies.And then I saw it.
I will say to all the Constantine fans that it has that something we all loved from the movie and despite not having Keanu or a Keanu look a like the protagonist manages to pull threw with his acting.The script was good enough, the acting was OK and the world was awesome like in the movie.All and all i enjoyed way more than I thought I would and would recommend it..
While a good movie it had nothing to do with the comic book character John Constantine.
This TV series seems so far to be going back to the comic books and finally getting this character pretty darn close.
I hope they do and keep the characters and stories where they come from, the comic books.
I think it is just the result of what happens when someone, the producers, together with their chosen writers try to push everything that has ever been shown in every supernatural movie or serial of the last 15 years into their first episode of their show.
Bad accent, super flat humor and Constantine looks like an older version of Jason Stackhouse (and Jason was def not our favorite True Blood character).
Top of all, Constantine acts like an over dramatic clown, making stupid faces and speaks out senseless lines.We were looking forward to this show based on the impressive Constantine movie and the DC Comics, never expected they'll ruin the franchise already with the pilot.
Premiere episode reminds me of a very old joke.An octogenarian is installed in a retirement home by his children.His first night there, a female occupant of the same age surprises him on route to his room, and challenges "Super Sex?" The gentleman thinks about this for a moment, and finally responds "I'll take the soup, thank you very much." This show verily defines the word "ambitious" in that it is not only attempting to bring a graphic novel to life, but it also has to knowingly suffer comparisons to the film, which featured a remarkably smooth and assured performance by KR.I do like the casting.
With Bogey playing Constantine, or at least a younger, British version of Bogey.Personally, I almost liked it, but, then, I spend too much time watching TV and can be lured into a show simply by sheer novelty.I am not sure the average viewer, a viewer who can push buttons on his PVR and instantly get SHIELD or ARROW or PERSON OF INTEREST or PENNY DREADFUL, will be quite as forgiving...?
Keanu was not as bad as many deemed him to be, however the script of the movie lacked a lot, but I really liked the dark vibe of Constantine.This show however takes everything that was cool about Constantine - removes it and replaced it with utter rubbish.The acting is so bad its almost a disgrace considering what we get on television these days.
And the envy I feel towards those one million non-viewers is stronger than any emotion that I experienced watching the Constantine pilot.No supernatural curse was necessary to doom this show; the half-baked script got the job done beautifully with dull characters, languid storytelling and lots of humorless, uninteresting words.The actors look good.
Although the themes are parallel, the characters are very different, and the movie aimed at an echo of noir, with brilliant big budget special effects.I'd happily and equally look forward to seeing more of the series, or a sequel to the Constantine movie.
CONSTANTINE was a 13-episode series that was ignobly cancelled after just one series and it's based on the Hellblazer comic, just as the Keanu Reeves big screen adaptation of the same character was.
I'm a fan of the movie Constantine that stars Keanu Reeves so I got excited when I heard there will be a series.I think expected too much from it.
Matt Ryan plays the titular character John Constantine with such conviction.
Still watching the first and as it turns out only series of Constantine, I couldn't believe when I read it had been cancelled after one season, it's rare the networks even let through a series like this and coming from the UK we only get very few of them.
I watched every episode of Grimm and Sleepy Hollow and halfway through I think Constantine has them both beat, the characters are all very watchable though I'm pretty sure anyone as prickly as Constantine would get thumped a little more than he does but no one's perfect and that includes TV execs, you had a gem here and you let it go, I can only hope some other studio picks it up and runs with it i for one will be glued to the screen when they do..
Given I'm enjoying seeing Constantine on "Legends of Tomorrow" at the moment, and (though nothing like the character, I quite like the Keanu Reeves movie) I thought I'd check this out even though I know it that was quickly cancelled.Matt Ryan plays John Constantine, paranormal investigator, cursed soul, wise ass; who, sensing a rising darkness checks out of a mental institution and begins to cross the country, vanquishing demons and saving the vulnerable.
He's joined in his mission by Zed (Angelica Celaya) a woman with psychic powers and Chas, John's seemingly immortal muscle and conscious played by Charles Halford.The best part about the series is probably apparent from the fact he still plays the character, Matt Ryan is clearly enjoying himself with the smoking, drinking and carousing.
Matt Ryan is a refreshing change to a dull live action lineup, so props to you, love.Though yes we are excited for his return in showcases like Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow, nothing will ever grasp the dwindling thread that was Constantine's greatness.
I hope after Supernatural's 13th season (when it was promised to end) Constantine comes back !
At first you get a punch in the face by this jerked off British guy with his hair colored blonde being Constantine, and after being a really big fan of Keanu's Constantine (well..Lawrence's actually) i was seriously like what in the f is this sh*t...but i kept on and i fell in love with it...Matt Ryan played an amazing role.If you guys love the god/heaven/hell/Satan/magic/exorcism/witchcraft theme don't pass out on this one.
The show follows John Constantine (played by Matt Ryan) who is a paranormal investigator/exorcist who has to fight against "the rising darkness".
Matt Ryan is amazing as Constantine and one of the best casting choices I've ever seen in not only a show, but in comic book based media.
You're going to really enjoy this if you like the genre and while Matt Ryan does the job well, there are times where he falls short on his acting and you lose the flow of the episode.
Having said that, I did grow to like the series, perhaps some better story lines, really hope it comes back for a 3rd season.
Four Episodes in and I'm hooked, as a fan of Hellblazer I know that I can't expect to see word for word representations of what's going on but so far it seems that they're on to a good thing here.
I've only recently become a fan of the Constantine comics after the new 52 series came out.
Matt Ryan plays John Constantine on the show and he is the perfect choice for the character, he has that cocky sarcastic charisma nailed and it allows him to own this whole show.
Now that the writers have decided which direction they want to go, they're doing so beautifully.John Constantine is a bastard of a character (which is why so many of us love him) and Matt Ryan is perfect for it.
this is just my opinion, I like Keanu Reeves in the movie Constantine from 2005 if you have not seen it take a look.1 back actors.2.he is from england.3.they replaced the Lucy Griffiths.
On one side there is the confusion over things happening without no explanation, flow or scheme and then as a fuel to the fire you have an English actor playing the central character whose diction is itself a hard shell to crack and add to that the misery of watching his acting that is like somebody on extreme sugar rushIf you have watched the movie Constantine starring Keanu Reeves, then you will understand the grievances i have towards Matt Ryan.
while Keanu reeves successfully portrayed the arrogant, troubled and brooding character of Constantine, Matt was unable to convince of the same.The graphics on the other hand was pretty impressive and a great visual delight but unfortunately without a solid script , a befitting central character, the series is not much to look forward toIf anything goes like the first episode then this series is a thorough disaster waiting to happen but since it has only been one episode so far, i will try for another chance for the series, even though there is no hope visible as of now.After Watching Second episode Yes things have settled down but does that mean it is getting interesting?sadly No would be an appropriate answer for me.
I liked the movie starring Keanu Reeves but the series is just too good and boy Matt Ryan is just mind blowing with his portrayal of the titular character.
Its like a modern day Buffy the vampire slayer equivalent, very good program and can't wait for a second season but please don't put this on hold for the flash!Watched 7 episodes of the flash and just lost interest it was same old every time and boring to be honest.
I'm not familiar with either the original DC comic creation or the earlier movie involving this character in the 90's but I enjoy the other DC TV shows "Arrow", "Gotham", The Flash" and "Supergirl", indeed I saw him first in an "Arrow" cross-over and was intrigued by him.The central character reminds me a bit of Paul Blackthorne's "The Dresden Files" which too, sadly got cancelled after just one season, concerning itself with devils, demons and the dark side in general, with our charismatic hero taking them on at every turn.
Constantine appears to be hunting down evil spirits wherever they are and for the second episode at least looks to have hooked up with a young female acolyte to give him his "assistant" a la Dr Who.The production values are good, the writing acceptable and the overall plotting fine.
I like him, he's tough, cynical and driven, the overarching plot here appearing to be his quest to reclaim the soul of a young girl who was lost to the dark zone while in his care.It's a shame that this show cancelled after just one series, maybe the fact Constantine doesn't wear designer clothes in his civilian alter-ego or a superhero costume when fighting crime, stopped his catching on with the wider public.Anyway I liked it and will watch all the episodes I can in the future..
The plot of the episodes go "Plop." If the goal is a second season, then, the writers need to undergo alcohol or drug rehab, seek out divorce lawyers and get their own lives in order before they introduce "A Hero Who Can And Does Battle Supernatural Evil." Actor Matt Ryan does the role of John Constantine well.
Drop the British accent and dialogue and be The American Hero Who Battles Supernatural Evil.Look to "The 2005 Movie" for the inspiration to make "Constantine" a working TV Series..
The Constantine character were better, the story was better and there were more spells then the movie.
Also Matt Ryan's acting is on point of what I would think Constantine would act in TV show and movie form.
So im going to start by saying that i am a big fan of the hellblazer and constantine new 52 comics but that will not impend to much on this review Constantine starts with its first 3 episodes being a little drawn out whilst it develops the characters throughout the series.
There is some promise here and the series will probably do better with those who aren't fans of the comic book or the horrible Keanu Reeves film.
John Constantine is (as some people may know) a comic book character from the same company that counts Superman, Batman and such among its properties.
On the surface, yes, this TV Constantine resemble the comic book character a lot more, than the Keanu Reeves of Constantine the Movie.
On top of that, the visuals of the pilot are just rehashings of the same clichés you see in the lowest budget horror films you can imagine.The one good thing is Matt Ryan (who plays John Constantine).
There is great potential in this department.Unfortunately the pilot generally leave little hope for the series in the future if you're acquainted with John Constantine from the comics.
Constantine First Two Episodes Review: Better Than GothamDC Comics have premiered three different TV shows this fall.
SPOILERS!Constantine is based on the successful DC (and more specifically, Vertigo) comic series Hellblazer.
The movie was fun, but not great.The main character of the show is John Constantine, an exorcist, demonologist, and, um, dabbler of the Dark Arts.
Later, I watched the second episode, and my speculation was confirmed.Season 1 of Constantine is going to be just like the first season of Supernatural.