Caffeinated Clint
Two more reviews for "Constantine". Seems folks aren’t enjoying it as much as the studio – and filmmakers – might like, but both reviews point out that it does have its merits all the same.
By Gill
Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine, a supernatural private investigator who helps a police officer (Rachel Weisz) find out about the mysterious suicide of her twin sister. One big and glaring problem is Keanu Reeves, and if you call brooding around like a dope compelling, then Keanu should win the Oscar because that what he does though out the entire film. Maybe you can blame his character for the way Keanu did his performance but Keanu really does not fit this type of character and it does show in his performance.
Other than the mighty Keanu Reeves, the acting from some of the other actors is first rate. The best comes from Rachel Weisz, who gives a very compelling performance and gives the movie a real sense of dignity and humanity as a cop looking to solve her sister’s death and smooth her own guilt. I found her character more compelling than John Constantine himself and more useful in terms of furthering the plot along. Djmon Hounsou is fine as Papa Midnight but he’s not in the movie very much, and Shia LaBeouf is decent is a very small role. Unfortunately Tilda Swinton and Peter Stormare just don’t cut it and end up making fools of themselves though out the entire film. Swinton plays the angle Gabriel (who is really a man) and just looks very freakiest and laughable. Peter Stormare plays Satan, and he hams it up so bad, that he makes his turn in the movie ‘Armageddon’ look low key. The guy who played Balthazar was more menacing than ether Swinton or Stormare and I think this is his first movie role. They should have had more of him instead of the other two.
The mood of the film almost the same of most of the postmodern films that has come out after the movie Seven. It’s better than the recent movies to come out that have copied its style (the recent movie Saw) but like the rest, it does not come close. The script lacks balance and the dialog is a bit under handed but it’s ok for what it is. Unfortunately the script is also bit predicable and a very cliche with every known scene that can be put in action/ horror hybrid. It does work well but it needed more horror that it had. It could have been worse( Van Helsing anyone) but it could have worked better as well.
Overall, the movie is not very though out in terms of plotting, directing and not to mention script. The acting (other than the really bad Keanu Reeves) is fine thanks to the performances of Rachel Weisz, Djmon Hounsou and the guy who played Balthazar but other than them, the movie does not work and that’s many because it does lacks showmanship and a credible leading man.
By Fay
Hi, I caught a screening of the movie Constantine up where I live in New York and to put things very bluntly, it’s not very good.
Keanu Reeves Plays the title character in this movie about a private eye who deals in the occult who helps a police woman solve the apparent suicide of her twin sister. Along the way, they deal with demons and angles that try to stop them in every turn and deal with their own personal demons along the way. This sounds like a good premise if it was done the right way but it’s not. The main problem is Keanu Reeves himself, I just did not buy his performance as a supernatural private eye. I can understand some of his reasoning in dealing with what he has to deal with but he just comes across as a jerk though out the whole movie and when you don’t give damn about the main character, that’s when you know the movie is in trouble. I would have like the character if he had some kind of charm to him but he does not and he does not come across well. Rachel Weisz on the other hand does give a very good performance as the cop who is trying to find out on what happened to her sister and her performance in my opinion is the only highlight of the whole movie. Djmon Hounsou gives a good performance as well but he’s mostly in the background though out most of the film and the Kid from the movie " Holes"(sorry, forgot his name) does not really serve a purpose at all, he’s just there being annoying. The bad guys in the movie are made up from the usual suspects of the supernatural genre, from demons, monsters, bad angles and of course the devil himself. Nothing too original here but they do their parts as they always do. I don’t know who directed this but you can’t see certain things because it’s too dark in some places of the film and the special effects are not really up to caliber with some of the films that have come out in recent months.
All in all, Other than a few good performances( Weisz and Hounsou in particular) the movie is not very good. Which is a real shame because it did have potential but with a miscast actor as the lead and the lead role being very good to begin with, the movie was doomed to fall flat on it’s face.
