Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
There is something to be said when one has the ability to see both half-angels and half-demons secretly walking the Earth. Just acknowledging this fact is half-insane in itself. The other half comes from actually conversing with them. Unfortunately for John Constantine, this is his reality.
Constantine is a 2005 movie starring Keanu Reeves as the main character, loosely adapted from the Hellblazer comic book from DC Comics, published under their Vertigo imprint. I say loosely adapted because bits and pieces are taken from the source material for this amalgamated version of the character. It would be easier to give him any other name than John Constantine and call it something else. Then maybe my expectations wouldn't be so high. But that plummeted when I heard Reeves was playing Constantine.
The Devil Made Him Do Good Deeds
John Constantine wants to go to Heaven. His reason is quite simple: he doesn't want to go Hell. As a teenager, he committed suicide after the strain of seeing demons and angels walking among humans became too much for him to bear. Fortunately for him, doctors revived him after he had been declared dead for two minutes. But it's those two minutes that had the most profound effect on him.
When he "died", he was sent to Hell. Unfortunately for the young Constantine, two minutes in a place where time moves at a different speed can seem like an eternity. Such an experience changed the way Constantine has approached his life. He is now trying to win back God's favour by fighting the forces of Hell on Earth. But he also knows his life on Earth is short as he has terminal lung cancer.
A fateful meeting with Detective Angela Dodson, who is trying to find the truth to her sister's suicide, leads Constantine to discover a plot devised by Mammon, the son of Satan, who plans to overthrow his father and invade the Earth.
To stop Mammon, Constantine has to draw upon the attention of Lucifer, and the only way to do that is to offer him the one thing he wants the most: Constantine's soul. To say that "All Hell has broken loose" is an understatement.
Hell Hath No Fury Like Cancer Sticks
It's not unusual for liberties to be taken when translating a comic book into a movie. It's been done many, many times before and will not change in the future. I don't mind it if a direct translation from one medium to another needs to be altered in order to make sense. But there is a risk by altering too much for the sake of producing a movie. I feel Constantine falls into this category.
Constantine (actually pronounced ConstanTINE, like line, not ConstanTEEN) carries out a bohemian lifestyle. There is nothing altruistic about the man at all. He may act heroic in some cases, oftentimes a very compassionate humanist, but he approaches life in a reckless way. His pursuit in magic and danger is done just for the sheer thrill of it.
Did you also know his physical appearance was modeled after the musician Sting? Yes, the same Sting of The Police fame. Constantine is a bloody blond bloke of the English flavour, a sorcerer dressed in a trenchcoat whose pastime includes chain smoking with questionable morality. Does any of this sound like Keanu Reeves?
I stated that I accept alterations if it makes sense. Having heard Reeves name attached to this movie made me question it before it even came out. It may be unfair on my part to already judge him in this role but that's the same as trying to convince me that Nicholas Cage would have made an excellent Superman. I really believe Reeves was the weakest part of the entire movie, moreso than the changes in the character. I think a wooden board with a painted face would have been better for the role. I didn't feel any charisma from the character at all. To his credit, though, that wasn't entirely Reeves fault.
I said alterations were made and the most significant was to the John Constantine character. I didn't see the humanist. I didn't see the sorcerer. I didn't see an Englishman (I think that would have been so much fun). I didn't even see a figure who has complete disdain for both the forces of Heaven and Hell. Instead, the audience is presented with an exorcist trying to win God's favour to gain entrance into Heaven. The only thing that really has any connection to the comic book character, besides the name, is the terminal lung cancer angle, but even that was changed to suit the movie's needs.
Looking at the comics, Constantine is a figure who lives in a world where gods from all pantheons co-exist simultaneously with each other. He can walk to Hell (Christian-version) one day, have a conversation with Osiris (Egyptian) the next day, and then trade barbs with Zeus (Greek). This concept alone would have made for a very interesting movie.
That's not to say Constantine wasn't interesting because, despite the changes, it was enjoyable. I was intrigued with this concept and thought it worked quite nicely. I just wish the name "Constantine" wasn't attached to the project because there was nothing familiar about the character that was portrayed by Reeves. Changing his motive and his purpose may have worked for this movie, but he became a totally different character as result.
Rachel Weisz as Detective Angela Dodson provided the human element missing from Reeves performance. I've always liked her acting ability and she provides a great presence to this film. The one I enjoyed the most was Tilda Swinton as the androgynous angel Gabriel. This character was perhaps the most interesting because, despite Gabriel's allegiance with God, there is more than meets the eye to Gabriel's motives. And Djimon Hounsou, a personal favourite of mine ever since Gladiator, can do no wrong, in this case in his role as Papa Midnite.
Constantine could have been something spectacular. Lately, I've been sounding like a broken record. Catwoman could have been a great movie if it actually showcased the Catwoman everyone wanted. I somewhat feel the same way about this movie as well. I wanted to see John Constantine, not a passionless Keanu Reeves in the role. Thankfully, the other actors pick up his slack and help sustain this film for a decent finish. But in order for it to be heavenly, sticking to the source material would have done the job.
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