Plot: As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces. Based on the DC/Vertigo “Hellblazer” comics.
I remember seeing Constantine in the theatre when it first came out, but I don’t think I had watched it since; I found it was pretty entertaining even if Keanu Reeves looked nothing like the character. Matt Ryan really looked the part in the television shows he was in and I liked him in the role, but I still enjoyed Keanu as John Constantine. He’s not an especially sympathetic character and is jaded, chain smoking his life away as he battles demons and sends them back to Hell.
When he was younger he tried to kill himself and was damned to go to Hell, but was brought back to become a demon slayer. When he’s diagnosed with cancer he desperately tries to buy his way into Heaven to avoid eternal damnation (which is understandable). When he meets Anglea (Rachel Weisz) he slowly begins to thaw and think about other people (like her sister Isobel who killed herself).
Although some of the CG is dated looking, a lot of the visuals are still haunting; I love the look of Hell which is basically a post-apocalyptic looking version of our world surrounded by fire. This was deliberate as it was inspired by old nuclear weapons test footage.
The added bonus of Tilda Swinton as a treacherous Gabriel and Peter Stormare as Lucifer really elevate the film which essentially feels like a 2 hour episode of Supernatural (which I loved incidentally).
A young Shia Labeouf plays John’s apprentice Chas who is a little underused and doesn’t serve much purpose; I liked his character and he could have done a bit more.
In terms of action I liked the fight between John and Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale) and Constantine’s cross shaped gun was awesome too; I always found the finale a little underwhelming, but it’s more a battle of faith rather than with cool weapons.
Michelle Monaghan initially had a larger role in the film but her scenes ended up getting deleted as the filmmakers thought John didn’t seem so isolated from the world when he was with her.
The performances all round are generally strong and Keanu manages to make Constantine one of his more challenging characters; I wouldn’t complain if we finally got that much discussed sequel.
Overall, Constantine still has some imaginative visuals and the cast all play it serious which makes it work; it isn’t exactly packed with action and is more mild horror, but it’s certainly never boring so if you’re a fan of shows like Supernatural you’ll enjoy this.