Constantine

I don’t see why people knock Keanu Reeves as an actor. I’ve been defending him since Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and I am delighted that he has managed to find another niche that he is good at. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s he was the best there was at playing the borderline retarded surfer/stoner guy. Over the last few years, I think he has ruled the land in the action/sci-fi genre. I can honestly say that a big reason that I enjoyed Constantine is that Keanu was in it. But I’ll tell you what…the supporting cast didn’t hurt either. Just like the original Matrix that featured Joey Pants and Carrie Anne Moss in supporting roles, Constantine has some very strong secondary characters played by very capable actors. Tilda Swinton plays Gabriel the Archangel, Djmon Hissou plays Midnight a voodoo witch doctor who hasn’t chosen sides between Angels and Demons, Peter Stormare gets creepy as Lucifer, Pruitt Taylor Vince as the alcoholic priest and even Gavin Rossdale, the guy from Bush, is capable as a henchman for the Devil. My one complaint is that Shia LeBouf doesn’t get enough screen time and unfortunately isn’t going to make it into the sequel. (Sorry to ruin it, but he dies.) I’m not going to recap the story line since I think the trailer did a pretty good job of letting you know that Hell Doesn’t Want Him, Heaven Won’t Let Him In, Earth Needs Him, yada, yada, yada. What’s cool about this concept is that it’s a comic book movie that plays like a movie instead of a cartoon version of a movie. What always bothers me about comic book heroes brought to life are the silly costumes and over the top villain antics. Constantine basically wears a white shirt, black tie and trenchcoat, no capes, no color, nothing extra. There are some cool special effects, interesting interpretations of what Hell is like and a lot of moodiness and rain. The look of the film is perfect and it adds another layer that is usually missing in films of this nature.