Constantine (2 DVDs)

Introduction ----------------- Although it wasn't really advertised as such, Constantine was another Hollywood film based on a graphic novel, (different to comics, I'm reliably informed), in this case, Hellblazer. Hellblazer is published by DC Comics in their Vertigo 'range', which was "created as a venue for material of more mature and sophisticated nature that did not fit easily with the traditionally superhero-dominated mainstream comics" (taken from the DC comics website). Despite the recent spate of films based on such graphic novels (see Spiderman, X-Men, Batman), you shouldn't be fooled into ...  Read the complete review

** Summary ** John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is something someone who has quite literally been to hell and back, several times. Because he tried to commit suicide (a cardinal sin) his soul now belongs to hell. He uses the fact he can see demons to his advantage by sending them back to hell, trying to win favour with God to save his soul. Detective Angela Johnson (Rachel Weisz) had a twin sister who killed herself after being committed for seeing demons. She claimed this from a very young age and said her twin Angela could see them too. Angela decided to hide her abilities, which left her wracked with guilt. Angela decides to try and find ...  Read the complete review

And on this day the lord said let there be another Hollywood idea involving heaven and hell which looks cool on the surface but doesn’t quite cut it. As I pressed play on the Constantine DVD I hoped I would get a decent couple of fours full of horror, shocks, action and entertaining story. This was a movie that I nearly saw on the big screen but never got round to. In all honesty Constantine is a pretty dull affair which probably had some good ideas at one stage but then forget to flesh them out when it came to writing the script. Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine, a loner slowly dying from lung cancer. From an early age he has been ...  Read the complete review

My son bought this home last week. I thought it was something to do with a military figure (he's into military history!) until I caught the last 5 minutes. That was enough to persuade me to watch it from the start. I'm told John constantine was a comic book figure. Thankfully my son explained the background to me first or I think I would have lost the plot. Briefly, John as a child was able to see things the rest of us can't. i.e. the demons in a parallel plane who were trying to get into our world. This led him to attempt suicide and condemn himself to a life in hell. (in the catholic faith suicide is a mortal sin and means you cannot get into ...  Read the complete review