Kath and I finally got a chance to see “Constantine” yesterday.
Now of course, the moment you move away from Constantine being British, you torpedo any chance of comics fans feeling like a comic book character has just stepped off the page onto the screen (as was the case that first moment when, for instance, you saw Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.) So it’s easy to say, Well, he may be a tortured individual with many of the trappings of John Constantine, but he ain’t Constantine. And that’s a fair enough criticism.
So basically we’re left with the question: Is it a good movie in and of itself? To that I would say definitely yes. The pacing is lethargic at times, but it’s that rare item: A special effects-heavy film that doesn’t make you feel like you’re drowning in special effects (like, say, “Van Helsing.”) This is accomplished through canny now-you-see-it, now you don’t stunts such as Gabriel’s wings being visible long enough to register and then vanishing.
Bits and pieces of various Hellblazer storylines are scattered throughout the story and yet, remarkably, it’s a pretty smooth combination.
Reeves does a good job, I thought, of Constantine’s angst over trying to bargain his way out of a dismal fate he’s brought on himself, and Tilda Swinton practically steals the film out from under him as Gabriel. (“You’re dying young because you’ve smoked thirty cigarettes a day since you were fifteen. And you’re going to hëll because of the life you took. Face it, John…you’re f*cked.”)
Bottom line, “Constantine” portrays an epic battle between heaven and hëll on a remarkably grounded and accessible level.
PAD
• 
Mr. David, your review very much reflects my own feelings about “Constantine”. The movie would have been received much better by “Hellblazer” readers if the main character had a different name and all references to the “Hellblazer” universe been excised or reduced to subtle in-jokes. Not that “Constantine” didn’t have some problems with its internal logic, too. Have the half-demons & half-angels always been with us? Are they literally half-whatever and half-human? If so, doesn’t that violate Heaven and Hëll’s no-direct interference pact?
PAD,
Sorry, but I hated it and kept dozing off. I was glad my friend bought my ticket. I am no great Hellblazer fan, but I am a Neil Gaiman fan, and love when he – or Alan Moore – writes Constantine into a script.
For me, it was disjointed and it didn’t make a lot of sense at times. Why, for example, did he have to wear shoes when he used water as a conduit for his trip to Hëll? He took them off, later on, when he did the same thing.
Other nitpicks: I felt like it was a waste to have Papa Midnight’s zombie be an Italian mafioso stereotype instead of what was in the original story…but I recognized him when he opened the door, so I guess that’s a plus.
In the end, I felt cheated. I might have liked it better had it been set in England, with an entirely British cast. My primary reason for disliking the film is due to those changes, but also because the sequence with Gabriel losing her/his/its wings was so reminiscent of the scene in Sandman where Morpheus acquieses to Lucifer’s request to cut his wings off when the Lord of Dreams went to Hëll in that famous story.
Also, the character of Lucifer was not at all like the Lucifer we’ve become accustomed to in the VERTIGO comics, and that performance in itself was so far over the top that there were teethmarks on the set when that scene was over.
When the bug monster attacked John at the opening, I had high hopes, but as the movie plodded along, I felt more and more distanced to what I was seeing because I was so familiar with all I had read before. In the words of the horse from the old Ren and Stimpy cartoons, “No, sir; I don’t like it.”
My hopes were initially dashed for this film when I read in USA Today that the director felt “being British” was one of Constantine’s cosmetic trappings the film could change without taking away the essence of the character. He’s completely wrong of course; Constantine’s “Britishness” very much informs the character as we know him. Indeed, many excellent Hellblazer stories could not exist without his being a “limey” and living in London.
It’s good to know that (as far as Peter is concerned) the film works on its own merits. It sounds like something I would definitely rent when the time comes…
“My primary reason for disliking the film is due to those changes, but also because the sequence with Gabriel losing her/his/its wings was so reminiscent of the scene in Sandman where Morpheus acquieses to Lucifer’s request to cut his wings off when the Lord of Dreams went to Hëll in that famous story.”
I’m not sure how you draw that conclusion. In “Sandman,” Lucifer of his own volition shuts down Hëll, then turns to Morpheus and asks him to sever the wings because he’s giving up his status as an angel (albeit a fallen one). In “Constantine,” Gabriel is punished by God and his/her wings are literally burned away. Both the dynamics and the methods are completely different.
PAD
Speaking of occult Englishmen played by American actors …..
From Newsarama:
SPIKE RETURNS IN AUGUST WITH PETER DAVID
Posting in the thread following Newsarama
I didn’t see “Constantine,” nor do I have any desire to do so. First, I’d rather see most/all of the Academy Award nominees. Second, I think Keanu Reeves is one of the most wooden, boring actors America has. Third, John Constantine’s English background informs a huge amount of his character; turning him into a Californian to suit the star seems just wrong. Fourth, from what I’ve read of HELLBLAZER John Constantine always had a sardonic sense of humor, mamaging a cynical sneer or laughing cutting comment in all but the worst of circumstances; the traier for CONSTANTINE made it look like the title character was deadly serious.
I’ll wait for SIN CITY and THE FANTASTIC FOUR, thank you very much.
I have only the most vague and hazy familiarity with Hellblazer and I suspect that this lack was a plus when I watched this movie, Thursday night. I’m not weighed down by any baggage from the books. I agree with Mr. David that the film stands on its own merits and I rather enjoyed it. Although there isn’t a huge amount of flying-fists action, I never felt that the movie dragged. A good first outing for a Vertigo character, in my opinion.
Re: Gabriel’s wingectomy
I know the dynamic is different, but I haven’t seen anyone else come up with wingless angels that had back scars like that in other comics. Maybe in the PROPHECY films, but not comic.
I would have liked to have seen Gabriel trying to explain his/her/its stumps to a plastic surgeon at the end, on a lark.
Heard there was a bonus at the end, after the credits. Anyone catch what it was?
Anyone else thrown by the fact they pronounce Constantine’s name ‘Constant-ee-n’? It’s always been ‘Constant-eye-n’ in my head (maybe it’s a UK/US thing)
And anyone else hear ‘Constanteen’ and envision a scene with a wall-eyed hunchback:
“John Constantine?”
“It’s pronounced Constanteen.”
“You’re putting me on. Do you also say ‘Joan’?”
Just me? Fair enough. Perhaps they’ll use that in the sequel… ‘Young Constantine’ has a nice ring to it.
Peace!
LEE
I’ve always heard it with an “ee” instead of an “i” – that’s fascinating…
As a huge fan of the vertigo line, and having been there from the beginning, I’m reasonably certain that being snotty about Constantine reveals more about you than your understanding of the character. Also, it’s always handy to have seen the film before you whine.
Keanu’s laid back approach to acting (the sense that he’s always being acted upon rather than acting) worked really well for the middle-man Constantine. While I did miss the accent, being in LA didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. The rest of the cast was amusing, and sometimes even good. (Gavin Rosedale was better than I expected, but his huge head still bugs me.) The story was really very good, and both I and my wife (who’s never read an issue) enjoyed it. Of course, Gabriel stole the show, but how’s that different from the book? How rare in the book is a John-driven story?
In any case, on its own merits, the movie’s pretty good. As far as it being “Constantine?” The spirit was willing, even if the flesh was not.
Oh, and I thought Lucifer (while not resembling the comic book version) was really interesting and engaging, much closer to a “classical” Satan rather than Vertigo’s rather mild interpretation. Remember, Lucifer’s supposed to be arrogant, angry, lost (a bit), and really nuts (he rebelled against the creator of the Universe). In many ways, the movie’s character impressed me more than the comic’s.
AD
The “Constanteen/Constantiiine” question has actually been dealt with in the comic: I don’t remember when exactly, but at some point someone calls John “Constanteen” and John corrects him.
Not that this is an overly big deal in the scheme of the film (which I haven’t seen), but it’s not just a question of the reader’s assumptions: it’s been stated.
TWL
Can anybody tell me where someone should start if they want to get into the comics? Should I start with the first TPB? Or later on down the line?
I liked it. Some weak spots in the back story, but otherwise OK. I am a little puzzled about why they even bothered to call it “Constantine” – not only John Constantine himself but the entire theological/magical backstory is completely different. Why not just call him John Smith and write it as an original movie, not a comics adaptation? I guess that
A)The main character getting lung cancer after being dámņëd might prompt the comics people to sue.
B)Movie execs love ideas with a built-in audience, even the tiny audience that have read comics like _Hellblazer_.
I suppose if you want to get picky, you should start with Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing, where he was introduced. Then again, everyone should own that run. It’s about as close to Necessary Comics as there is
I know Jamie Delano had the unevitable task of trying to develop a character Alan Moore introduced, but his run always left me kind of flat. And he was getting downright weird towards the end. My favourite three TBPs would be Garth Ennis’s Dangerous Habits, Warren Elllis’s Haunted and Brian Azzerello’s Hard Time.
I think there was a TPB of some of the best Hellblazer stories were put in one collection for people wanting to get a sample of the character.
Posted by Luigi Novi at March 12, 2005 03:26 PM
Can anybody tell me where someone should start if they want to get into the comics? Should I start with the first TPB? Or later on down the line?
Actually, I would recommend EARLIER and start with the SWAMP THING TPBs. Constantine’s first ‘real’ appearance is in book 3: THE CURSE (he makes a background debut in one panel in book 2) But I would strongly recommend you read SWAMP THING 1 & 2 first as they are not only brilliant they also lay out the groundwork for HELLBLAZER and pretty much the whole Vertigo line.
FYI: HELLBLAZER book 1: ORIGINAL SIN (re)introduces Constantine and has the first appearance of Papa Midnight and other supporting characters. HELLBLAZER: DANGEROUS HABITS is the lung cancer story that the movie ‘adapts’. Both are cracking reads.
Peace!
LEE
I’ll second (third? fourth?) everyone else in recommending the Swamp Thing collections — certainly the first three get you up through Constantine’s introduction, but all of them are worth it. The stuff’s almost pure gold.
In terms of Hellblazer collections, I rather like Delano’s run, especially the earlier bits of it — so “Original Sin” is a good bet. Most of Ennis’s run got way too over-the-top for me, but “Dangerous Habits”, his first story, is very nice, and has one of the best single-panel summing-ups of Constantine’s attitude towards life that you could find. (Anyone who’s read it probably knows the panel I’m referring to.)
TWL
Okay, someone help: What’s Peter referencing in the thread title?
Posted by Michael Pullmann at March 12, 2005 04:46 PM
Okay, someone help: What’s Peter referencing in the thread title?
One quick Google search later:
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/p/piddletwiddleandresolve.shtml
(have to say I’m none the wiser!)
Peace!
LEE
Funny, I thought Reeves did a pretty awful job of portraying Constantine’s angst. That was the main thing that ruined my suspension of disbelief during the movie.
OTOH, I thought Rachel Weisz was very good, as was Peter Stormare’s Lucifer.
oh well.
I liked the movie a helluva lot on its own merits. As far as I’m concerned, Keanu did the best “John” performance that the script would allow, but the script contained a little too much that was inherently NOT John.
One comaplaint that I didn’t have was John not being British. Sure, in a perfect world he woulda been, but really, was it SO bad? I honestly can’t think of how being British “defines” John (as opposed to how being a small town farm boy defines Clark Kent). John pretty much hates everything about London, and all of those pet peeves (racism, governmental corruption, ugly buildings, stinking air) can be found in any big city, including L.A.
SEAN
I thought it was great. You have to take it on it’s own terms. As our host wrote, it was an effects heavy film that didn’t feel like one. The scarey bits came at unexpected moments, and it felt serious. I like that fact that it used Christianity in pretty much the same way that Marvel’s Thor uses the Aesir!
The not being English didn’t bother me; the prospect of Reeves (whom I thought was great) doing an English accent for two hours, that might have bothered me.
“Also, it’s always handy to have seen the film before you whine.”
Aw, you should know by now that that’s not how it works on the internet. People whine about films before they see them, before the films have been released, before the films are wrapped filming, before the films have STARTED filming, before the films have even been cast. They’ll whine on the basis of who they heard was writing it, who they heard was directing it, who they heard optioned it, who they heard was being discussed for the possible starring role by people who haven’t optioned the material yet.
If fans didn’t whine about movies without having seen them, internet traffic would drop by fifty percent.
PAD
The “John” in the thread heading is John Adams being addressed by his wife, Abigail, in a song from “1776.”
PAD
I admit that I haven’t seen the movie (yet).
Question about this:
“[B]ut also because the sequence with Gabriel losing her/his/its wings was so reminiscent of the scene in Sandman where Morpheus acquieses to Lucifer’s request to cut his wings off when the Lord of Dreams went to Hëll in that famous story.
Wasn’t this also in the original Hellblazer comics, too, though? I remember a scene with John taking off Gabriel’s wings with a chainsaw during the Ennis/Dillon run. … I take it there’s no chainsaw in the movie? ::disappointed!::
Generally enjoyed the film. Just a couple of comments:
* My standard response to friends is that I appreciated Keanu playing Constantine as British. After all, he used the same British accent in BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA. 🙂
* Besides Garth Ennis’ DANGEROUS HABITS storyline (worth the last panel alone), I also recommend Neil Gaiman’s collection of one-shots (MIDNIGHT DAYS I think). His HELLBLAZER story “Hold Me” is one of the best Constantine stories in memory.
I think that this movie demonstrates how dangerous it is to be familiar with the source material. The more you know of the comic, the more bothered by the changes you are. The character was designed with Sting as a model. I’ve never wanted him to play the part, because I didn’t think that much of him as an actor. I always thought teaching Kiefer Sutherland a good british accent was the way to go.
Kitty – Yes, there was a story where part of Constantine’s machinations cost Gabriel it’s wings. I can’t remember specifically which story it was or who the creators were. And it did involve a chain saw.
Luigi – Something no one is really saying is that in contrast to Sandman, DC has not just reprinted Hellblazer from the beginning. They’ve always just jumped around reprinting selected stories. Suprisingly, Hellblazer seems to survive this anyway. I don’t know if its always been the intent, but this is one comic that I think is still very readable if picked up haphazardly. That said, I liked Delano’s run and Original Sins is the first 9 issues of the comic. Be warned, the story isn’t finished at the end of the trade. I also have always liked the Dangerous Habits story.
Not bad for what it was. (And any movie starring Keanu Reeves can only be so good before hitting a proverbial glass ceiling.) But, add me to the list of those who wish they’d just called it something else. I enjoyed it most in those moments when my mind was able to forget/ignore it was supposed to be John Constantine…but then something would happen to remind me that it was supposed to be John, and I was out again.
[POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD–PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK]
One of the biggest problems, I think, was making it something of an “action flick.” That is to say, it seems as though that the comics’ Constantine would go for a cosmic con as primary plan, rather than packin’ a mystical shotgun and blowin’ away them thar demony-types, and going for the con as a last-ditch effort.
[END OF POTENTIAL SPOILERS–WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULAR RESPONSE]
Continuing the aside about the pronunciation of John’s surname…
Yeah, there was the scene in an issue with John correcting someone that it’s “Con-stan-tyne,” but Alan Moore also had Etrigan rhyming the name with “thing,” which leads more to a “Con-stan-teen” pronunciation. So…take your pick…to-may-to, to-mah-to. 😉
I thought the movie worked better as disconnected little sequences that had alot of style. Put it all together, though, its a bit of a disconnected mish-mash. Pretty cool movie in fits and spurts, but never quite took off for me as a whole, due to unintersting digressions and supporting characters (Short Round & the Mummy chick)
I will say Gavin Rosdale was cool, I’ve always like Keanu since “Something Strange Was Afoot At The Circle K”, and John Constantine would never, never, NEVER quit smoking at the end, gøddámņìŧ!
Rrr, thinking about that ending makes me so ticked that I’m gonna go have a cigarette right now.
PS – did anyone else catch the post-credits teaser? I missed it.
Re: Reactionary fandom.
Two points:
1. When fans talk up a comic or movie without having seen it, it’s called ‘buzz’ and the insiders love it. If fans diss a comic/movie then they are dismissed as ‘whiners’. To accept one and condemn the other strikes me as hypocritical. Everyone is entitled to speculate and form an opinion on the information they have at the time – there’s no excuse for rudeness or abuse, however.
2. (Speaking for myself) It’s a conditioned responce. I learned a long time ago to spot the danger signs and balance it against the hype. For me the final straw came with the movie of JUDGE DREDD. Every step of the production looked terrible – Stallone, the redesigned uniform, taking off the helmet etc… but I kept buying the company line of “It’ll be great. Just you wait.” And it turned out to be a terrible, embarrassing bášŧárdìšáŧìøņ of the comic that almost killed 2000AD and it’s whole line of related titles.
Not to say that I’m always right by any means. I originally had very bad vibes about the LOTR movies. It sounded to me that Peter Jackson had unfortunately bitten off way more than he could chew and the US casting seemed terrible, but it soon became apparent that I was wrong on both counts anf that the films were going to be something very special (I’m still amazed they became a hit with the mainstream, but!)
With CONSTANTINE alarm bells began ringing very early on with the news of the change of nationality (Nicolas Cage was attached at that point) and with the confirmed casting of Keanu I filed it under ‘Sounds Horrible But Keep An Eye On It Just In Case’. It’s released over here in the UK next week and when I go and I’ll find out whether I’ll be able to enjoy it on it’s own terms or whether the changes to JC will be too big a hurdle to get over. I hope I enjoy it – but what kind of idiot actually WANTS a film to be bad???
Peace!
LEE
To answer those people who missed the teaser at the end of the film, it showed Constantine visiting Chaz’s grave and the discovery that Chaz was really an “undercover angel.” After being revealed, he flies upwards, leaving Constantine giving a cynical “I should have known” expression to the camera. Obvious, but cute.
I thought Contstantine’s wry wit was translated to the screen just fine.
As far as Hellblazer collections, here’s a list: http://www.mm.com/user/rob/tplist/hellblazer.html
I’m surprised no one else has mentioned the angels getting their wings shot off in Dogma as another parallel to Gabriel losing her wings in Constantine. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if Smith was making a comic book reference in that scene I missed.
I came to “Constantine” having never read any of the “Hellblazer” comics, so I can only judge it on its own merits. I rather enjoyed it. The title character was sullen enough that Reeves’s chronic inability to act didn’t harm the film, and I thought the writing and pacing was well done (for the most part– PAD’s right about the pacing being sluggish at times, but not enough to really disrupt my enjoyment of the movie).
The bit about Gabriel’s wings reminded me of “Dogma” more than anything else, particularly after the Jay and Silent Bob allusion at the beginning.
Peter David is a “1776” fan? Well, that’s just cool.
For God’s Sakes, John, Sit down!
Re: wingless angels
I forgot all about the wingless angels in JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK – but I defend my argument regarding Gabriel’s dewinging reminding me of Lucifer’s wing removal in SANDMAN; I know the way it was done was wholly different, and Lucifer was a willing participant in the whole scenario, but let’s consider some facts:
CONSTANTINE was marketed as a VERTIGO film in the opening credits, because he’s a character in the VERTIGO line…
The crown jewel in the VERTIGO line has always been SANDMAN…in essense, it’s the series that brought the entire VERTIGO line into prominence.
As far as the VERTIGO line is concerned, SANDMAN set the stage for the everything that followed in its wake, and even the character of Constantine was incorporated into it.
SANDMAN has never been made into a film (although, I feel, in the right hands, it could be done quite brilliantly)…and it was my hope and expectation that CONSTANTINE would abide by the established continuity of the SANDMAN series with some degree of faithfulness…
I felt like CONSTANTINE jumped the gun with its presentation of Lucifer (who, I noted, had no wings) and Gabriel’s dewinging…
And I was not alone. My friend, who bought my ticket as a birthday present, told me after the film that Gabriel reminded me of the angels in SANDMAN, and the dewinging of the character reminded him of Lucifer’s dewinging in SANDMAN as well. I mean, how could it not? When we think VERTIGO, we think SANDMAN…
I will shut up now.
I meant DOGMA, not JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKES BACK. Kevin Smith’s work bleeds together for me like JAMES BOND films…
“but Alan Moore also had Etrigan rhyming the name with “thing,” which leads more to a “Con-stan-teen” pronunciation. So…take your pick…to-may-to, to-mah-to. ;-)”
Um … are you sure about this? You sure Alan Moore didn’t have it rhyme with “thine”?
Moore never had Etrigan do slant-rhymes.
Jason
I agree. I loved the film. I’ve only been reading the tpbs and ongoing for the last year or two, but I felt that everything that makes the book cool, was captured in the film – Reaves and his “Constantineness” aside – it didn’t take away from the film at all for me.
It was a good thing that we knew months in advance that he wasn’t going to be English, this allowed me to “get over it” in that regards and just view the film itself for what it was. And what it was, was pretty enjoyable. There were some great performances, some great lines, some great scenes, and great effects. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though the fanboy in me kept trying to remind me that it wasn’t the real Constantine.
my wife and I enjoyed it, and she had no idea who John was, as far as being a comic book character. I told her afterwards there were three storyline points that would have made the film better for me…
SPOILER ALERT for those that haven’t seen the movie yet…
1)John ditching the “Holy Shotgun”…but, it gave it an “action” slant that the average viewer could appreciate
2)he chewing gum bit at the end…it put a sugary sweet ending that seemed, to me, out of place…of course, that might be my knowledge of the Hellblazer world coming into play, my wife thought that that was a cute bit
3) I would like to have seen John being responsible for the Spear of Destiny being discovered…so that he is the one that manipulated the whole event for a chance at redemption, walking on the razor’s edge with the fate of the world at stake, just to cure his cancer.
Otherwise, I liked it for what it was ;^D
SPOILERS sprinkled throughout.
I too somewhat liked the movie on it’s own merits, but there were several things that stuck in my craw:
1) John Constantine, Action Hero?! OK, Constantine does get physical every once in a while — he was a punker after all — but wandering around blowing away demons with the Holy Hand Grenade, I mean Shotgun. C’mon. John’s a trickster first. Generally he cons someone else into being the action hero.
2) If you’re going to mine Dangerous Habits for material, then don’t change how he gets out of the cancer thing. The grand trick he plays at the end of that story line far outweighed the redemption through sacrifice business in the movie. John Constantine sacrifice himself for someone else? I think not.
But, I loved Peter Stormare’s Lucifer and Tilda Swinton’s Gabriel was by far the best part of the movie (again, though, why not have Constantine be the one who gets to remove the wings?).
I’m not a big Keanu fan, but his woodenness did play into the way the character was written.
Re: A SANDMAN movie.
(I’m going from memory here)
I once read an interview with Neil Gaiman in SFX magazine in which he revealed that there was a SANDMAN movie in the works a few years ago. Several scripts were comissioned. One was very good indeed (read it here: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts_n_z.html ) which was improved even more by a Roger Avary rewrite, but was rejected by producer Jon (Batman & Robin) Peters; and another which was awful but Peters’ preferred. Gaiman hated it – in it The Corinthian was Morpheus’ brother (???!!!) and the film was full of horrible cartoony dialogue along the lines of “Quake with fear puny mortals at the power of the Sandman’s mighty Dream-ruby!”
The film fell through and Gaiman said he hopes it never gets made. He also said that he’s never let Jon Peters get within 100 miles of anything he had written ever again.
Peace!
LEE
“but Alan Moore also had Etrigan rhyming the name with “thing,” which leads more to a “Con-stan-teen” pronunciation.”
Actually, that was Rick Veitch, and he had Etrigan rhyming “Constantine” with “Pantomime”. The scene is confusing, though, because the Phantom Stranger interrupts Etrigan’s rhyme and ends his sentence with “everything”. 🙂
SEAN
My friend saw the movie the other day (I haven’t) and we got to thinking just how many times Keanu Reeves ends up either IN or some situation involving hëll. There was “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey”, “The Devil’s Advocate”, “Constantine”, and probably others.
It’s pretty funny how every one complains of Constantine not being British. How do you know he is British in the comic? Have you heard his accent before? Do you have any comics with built in audio? Heh heh.
Liking this film depends upon how much logic you’re willing to leave at the door upon entry.
The first and foremost problem is Reeves. His wooden, emotionless and I can’t for the life of me see how he managed a career past Bill and Ted. I’ve said before, and I maintain this opinion, anyone could have played Neo. After the first film one wants the rest to be consistant, hence Reeves comes back. That does not make him a good actor (like, for example, Mark Hamil who never went past Luke, and who’s fan is based solely on the fame of Star Wars – and nothing else.) This is a knock against pretty much all of Reeves film – Devil’s Advocate, the eye rolling Speed, etc.
The next problem was that is was not a war between Heaven and hëll in a generic sense, but in a Catholic Religion sense. Unless the film was called “Constintine’s battle with Catholic dieties” then there was way too much logic left behind to make even a part of this film work.
For instance:
1. Constantine commits suicide, goes to hëll, get’s revived and now he’s doomed to go to hëll unless he does something to change it. Well sense the film so heavy with the Catholic stuff, why did he just go confess his sins, be forgiven and all would be well.
2. Pure bread demons are no supposed to come to earth. Okay, fine. So how did the get the Half Breeds? And how is it that Half breed get to walk around free? And how exactly did the Devil come tot he world to collect Constantine? His very presence should have broken the contract (or what ever) wide open. (This is so close to a Chuck Austen X-Men plot I looked for his name on the writing credits.)
3. If they need the Spear of Destiny in order to break free of hëll and invade Earth, how come other demons were able to invade before the Spear got to his distination? If they could come out just by the fact that the spear was found then who need the twins?
4. There a bar where demons and angels can come and settle down for a break, a nutral zone – as it were. Okay, nutral from what? They can do anything on Earth. So what do they need a nutral zone for exactly? After all they can only influence, not act directly – according to the logic of the movie.
4. AND (my favorite GROAN moment) if the demons or half breeds or hëll caused the sister’s death, she therefore did not commit suicide. She therefore should never have been in hëll. I mean even if mere mortals thought she committed suicide, what kind of sense would it make for Heaven or Hëll (run by something more powerful the mere mortals) to allow her to go to hëll. AFter all she was “pushed” to going off the ledge, it was not suicide.
Okay, it a movie based on a comic. I get that. But these were glaring plot problems, not simple nit picking. I did not even get into using Bible passages as if they were spells, or how was the demon going to break free for the human it possessed BEFORE the spear found it’s way to its objective, or why the Devil didn’t just send the half breed to kill Contintine rather then waiting for the end of the movie since he wanted him so bad.
It had some moments, and it didn’t totally suck (as, let’s say Superman IV or the Swamp Thing) but I couldn’t give it any praise for the few interesting moments. This is what happens when Hollywood decides not to use comic book itself – things go to crap. And the logic of not using a British actor escapes me. They could have at least tried James Marters – he would have been closer to the character the the wooden, non-emotional Reeves.
Connecting statement between Kevin Smith and Neil Gaiman:
Rent or buy the Kevin Smith DVD where he visits several colleges and discusses the aborted Superman film produced by Jon Peters and how it connects to the “Wild, Wild West” movie that Peters produced.
Smith mentioned in print and on the Dogma DVD how he was inspired by the Sandman “Season of the Mist” collection.
Haven
“That raises the question of whether Hamill is a successful actor because he continues to _act_, or is a has-been because he didn