The Quadrangle

Issue date: 3/2/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Based on the comic book Hellblazer, Constantine is the story of John Constantine, as played by Keanu Reeves, a brooding "supernatural detective" with terminal lung cancer. He falls into a mystery involving a policewoman, Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), and her sister's mysterious and supposed suicide.
Constantine takes place in a dark and dirty Los Angeles in which loner John Constantine runs around performing exorcisms and saving Earth from the wrath of hell. Throughout the movie, we learn that Constantine suffered "visions" of demons when he was a child, which led to confusion and an attempted suicide. He was dead for only two minutes during the attempted suicide, "but in hell, two minutes is an eternity."
Because of his destiny to spend eternity in hell (suicide leads to going to Hell), John now spends his time trying to buy back God's love by keeping out Hell's Demons and fighting off "half-breeds" from hell.
The plot thickens when fate brings Constantine and Angela Dodson together and when she asks him for help to find out why her sister killed herself. Angela believes that her sister, Isabel, also played by Weisz, would never commit suicide because she was extremely religious. It turns out that Constantine and Isabel both share the talent of seeing visions of demons, and even Angela did too, but because she denied it and did not back up her sister (which in turn, made her parents stick Isabel in a psychiatric ward), the visions just faded, except the ones that help her solve crimes.
In order to save Isabel from the wrath of eternity in Hell, Constantine and Angela do their research, travel to Hell and back through means of water, and discover a plot that even the Devil is unaware of. Essentially, if Constantine saves Isabel, he might be able to redeem himself in the eyes of God and be able to go to Heaven.
Constantine has a lot of potential, and many scenes were either grasping or visually appealing. Keanu Reeves's character was ultimately boring and unnecessarily dark and aggressive. Rachel Weisz's character was, of course, the attractive, headstrong girl with issues-- she interferes in crucial situations. The supporting actors in this film were great, especially Constantine's witty apprentice and personal chauffeur, Even Steven's Shia LaBoeff. Others who were especially good were Tilda Swinton, as Gabriel the Arch Angel, and Peter Stormare as Lucifer in a white suit.
All in all, Constantine was not the best movie ever made, but it did have its scary moments and neat effects. An especially cool scene was when Constantine initially travels to Hell to find Isabel by means of a cat and sticking his feet in a bowl of water.
John Constantine's chain smoking was funny during the first half of the movie, but it lost its appeal. The lack of logic throughout the film also added to the general disappointment. The acting was ordinary and the cinematography was somewhat impressive, but do not expect much of an ending, although rumors of sequels have surfaced.
It was not worth the 10 dollars, but check it out to see the devil and to make your own judgments on Gavin Rossdale's acting as half-breed-from-Hell, Balthazar.

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