Constantine
Ok, as i have mentioned before, I am a fan of comic books. I have seen comic book movies that have been great (X-Men, Hellboy, Spiderman, From Hell etc) and I have seen comic book movies that sucked (Daredevil, Electra, Batman & Robin etc) but I go to see them all and try to give them all a fair chance.
I must confess that I have never had the opportunity to read any of the Hellblazer stories, even though some have by written by one of my favorite writers, Garth Ennis (honestly I can’t decide if the guy is the sickest person on the planet or a genius, read Preacher, Hitman and Punisher and decide for yourself). I understand why fans of Hellblazer may be a little p’d off at this movie, I would feel the same if they did the same with Preacher, changed the characters personality, where it is set, his origins etc. But I went in to see this movie with an open mind and not polluted with the out cry from fans of the comic.
What can I say, I really really enjoyed it. Ok so maybe Keanu wasn’t the greatest choice to play John Constantine, maybe he wasn’t quite the nasty peice of work that Constantine really is, but he did ok and didn’t piss me off during the film. I enjoyed the story and even the CGI wasn’t over the top. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had read the comic first, but if they wanted the film to be exactly like the comic, surely the would have called the film ‘Hellblazer’?!?!?!?
Go see it and decide for yourself, bare in mind that in the credits it will say ‘Based on the the characters created by….’ this means it is not a total lift of the comic.
Its an enjoyable film and I for one will be purchasing the DVD.
Next stop…….SIN CITY
G.I 
March 14th, 2005 at 9:28 am
Made the effort to see a preview screening of Constantine at the weekend and to be honest, it wasnt worth the effort.
Yes the CGI is impressive and yes Keanu does a nice turn as John Constantine. From there the problems start…
Keanu has almost zero support from the other actors, none of whom shine at any stage. Rachel Weiz (sp?) is especially bad (something about fake American accents) and never once looks like she belongs in this film. Additionally to this we have characters appearing but they are given little or no time to develop. So when they are killed off, Fat Priest and Relic Collector, it is meaningless.
The plot itself is a bit of a muddle and in all honesty there were times when I was completely bored by what was happening on screen.
Theres a rule in Hollywood that if you have a dodgy film, you release it during the first quarter of the year. The thinking being that without any blockbusters or sure fire hits around, maybe your film can find some audience and make a bit of money.
On the evidence I saw, Constantine will make very little money indeed.
One +ve note was the film carried both the SW:ROTS trailer and Batman Begins teaser. Now there are two films which will truely be worth seeing…
March 14th, 2005 at 10:38 am
I will definitely be checking Constantine out, although I am much more excited about Sin City. Also saw the trailers for SW:ROTS and Batman Begins when I was seeing Hitch at the weekend - both look great.
(Oh, and it’s Weisz)