Visually Ambitious Constantine Catastrophically Falls from Cinematic Grace
The new DC Comics adaptation of Constantine from Warner Bros. is probably the best $80-million anti-smoking commercial ever made. Keanu Reeves’ title character is so consumed by his addiction, so unable to quit even with the certain knowledge his death is imminent and a literal trip to purgatory is what comes next, that I can’t think of a better depiction of the corrosive power of tobacco.
Too bad the movie isn’t good. Oh well. A girl can’t have everything.
Based on the acclaimed Hellblazer comic book series created by Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis, freshman director Francis Lawrence’s Constantine is a mishmash of religious mumbo-jumbo and existential ideas ripped straight out of several better pictures ranging from The Exorcist to The Omen to even the messy 1995 cult curiosity The Prophecy. There isn’t an original thought to be found anywhere, and except for some excellent visuals and sublime (if brief) supporting turns from Peter Stormare and Tilda Swinton, most of this one did little for me.
This is the story of John Constantine (Reeves), a man who knows there is both a Heaven and a Hell, and that he’s slated to go headfirst into the latter. Because of this, Constantine is a demon hunter. He sends the minions of Hell back to Satan when they break a ceasefire between God and Beelzebub in the hope that if he does enough good deeds, he may earn his way back into Heaven. But time is running out for Constantine. Lung cancer is whittling him away, leaving this crusader with maybe a year — if that — to live.
When police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) comes to him for help investigating the mysterious suicide of her sister, Constantine learns that the balance between Heaven and Hell is deteriorating. With the forces of darkness intent on helping Satan’s son rise to ravage the Earth, Constantine may be the last, best hope for a clueless humanity that has zero idea how close they are tilting toward total damnation.
As I said, this isn’t the most original storyline to pop out of the head of a Hollywood screenwriter. However, writers Kevin Brodbin and Frank Capello still seem to manage to mine from every religious thriller imaginable. They crib freely from them with a wild abandon that borders on being criminal, and the resulting mess they’ve concocted is enough to appall even the most jaded moviegoer. In fact, a late third-act twist featuring the aforementioned Swinton and Stormare (who truly are wonderful) is so blatantly lifted from The Prophecy I may have unintentionally laughed out loud right there in the middle of an otherwise serious moment.
What makes all of this even more frustrating is that there’s a lot about Constantine that’s dazzling. The visual look and feel is stunning. Philippe Rousselot’s cinematography, Naomi Shohan’s production design, and David Lazan’s art direction are magnificent. Even better, if you combine these elements with Klaus Badelt’s awesome score, mute the dialogue, and otherwise treat all of this as a silent picture, this horror-driven superhero tale is possibly borderline brilliant.
There are a few other nice touches. Reeves and Weisz are well cast (even if he isn’t “comic accurate”), and both Djimon Hounsou and Pruitt Taylor Vince add welcome flavor respectively as a demonically neutral barkeep and as a psychic priest. Also, as silly as the climactic turn of events proves to be, Swinton and Stormare remain extraordinary. As much as their entire sequence made me giggle, it was still the only one in the picture where I legitimately cared about the outcome. Pity so much here did precious little for me.
Even so, if a person did want to quit smoking, this supernatural adventure may be the jolt an individual needs to get the job done. The site of tobacco tar drenching the hands of Satan is enough to make even the most devout smoker at least consider buying a box of Nicorette. Pity, then, that the rest of Constantine falls from grace with a thud so thundering the sound of it hitting the earth still rings in my ears like a cacophonous maelstrom.
Film Rating: 1½ (out of 4)
