The movie "Constantine" sticks to its comic-book roots.
Films such as "X-Men 2" or "Spiderman" express a strong sense of human emotion throughout.
Yes, these are superheroes, but at the same time, viewers can relate to them. Peter Parker can climb walls, but he still can't talk to his dream girl. This is something that, as fellow humans, the audience understands.
"Constantine" does not do this.
The characters in the movie are two-dimensional. The driving force behind who they are and what they want is muted, because it's much easier to focus on the plot and visuals than it is on the characters.
To make the film even more distant, it is placed within a world far different than the one most people inhabit and makes no effort to find parallels.
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"Constantine" is based on the comic book Hellblazer, published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
The film looks more like a stylistic comic book than a superhero movie, as everything from the dialogue to the camera angles grounds it in its roots.
"Constantine" isn't a Technicolor Superman comic. Rather, it's a very complex tale filled with religious folklore, death and suicide in a world unfit for human eyes.
The story revolves around the idea that heaven and hell are waging war on earth unbeknownst to humans. Though neither side can physically alter anything on earth, they use their influences to get things done.
The movie follows John Constantine, played by Keanu Reeves, a modern day exorcist-demon-hunter and all-around jerk living in Los Angeles. He acts as sort of an immigration officer, trying to keep as many demons off earth as possible.
Detective Angela Dodson, played by Rachel Weisz, goes looking for Constantine after she finds her twin sister dead from a suicide Dodson knows she didn't commit. Constantine, also suspecting foul play, uncovers a hostile takeover planned in heaven and hell that will determine the fate of mankind.
One of the most interesting things about this film is how it manages to take scary events such as an exorcism and place them in the middle of the day, thus ruining the audience's fear of dark and unknown spaces.
Instead you see the life Constantine leads. His job as defender of earth has nothing to do with being a superhero.
But with a plot so complex and with so many mysteries to solve, one must strain to understand the actors as they mumble through their lines. Because of this, the final confrontation of the film didn't come as a shock but rather a relief.
"Constantine" definitely merits a second viewing to make more sense of the story.
Overall, it's a great popcorn movie. For the guys looking for classic comic book touches, they'll be excited to find several shots of Weisz' cleavage, as well as her walking around in a damp, white T-shirt.
And the rest of us get to watch ultra-cool characters working out a fascinating mystery while we wickedly enjoy the mythology our Sunday school teachers warned us about in the first place.
Rated: R
Grade: B
