Post by Damien on Feb 26, 2005 21:23:42 GMT -5
Constantine
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gavin Rossdale, Djmon Hounsou, Peter Stormare.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Mark Bombeck, Frank Cappello
Rating: R - for violence and demonic images
Running Time: 121 minutes
John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is your all around paranormal investigator, occult expert, and exorcist. He has been rejected by God and is desired by the devil and to make maters worse he is dying. In order to get back into God's good graces he spends his time hunting down half-breed demons who disturb the balance between good and evil and sends them back to Hell. That quest causes him to help Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) a cop trying to uncover the truth behind the mysterious suicide of her twin sister. Now together they must work to stop a plot to raise the son of the devil and bring hell on earth.
I must say Constantine is one of the most original and creative interpretations of the battle between Heaven and Hell that I have ever come across on the big screen. The plot is very intriguing full of twists and turns. Just as intriguing is the cast and characters. Reeves' stoic, no nonsense Constantine is a good departure from the naive Neo. He is a man that knows he is damned and that if he doesn't redeem himself he is doomed to an eternity in hell. Joining him is a wide range of interesting characters such as Papa Midnite (Djmon Hounsou) a former witch doctor who now runs a neutral sanctuary for half-breed demons and angels. Then there is the androgynous half-breed angel Gabriel, and the sophisticated half-breed demon Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale). A truly vile Lucifer also makes an appearance played uniquely by Peter Stormare and we cannot forget the divided, an distraught yet still beautiful Rachel Weisz as Angela.
Added to the plot and great cast are amazing effects. The CGI demons are just eerie and grotesque. The fire and brimstone of Hell truly becomes a visual feast for us. The movie seems to take many images from art, literature, and traditional concepts of angels, demons, and Hell and makes them frightfully real places and entities.
It should be noted that Constantine is based on the Vertigo DC Comics Hellblazer. Not having read any of the comics I cannot comment on how true this movie adaption is to the comic though I can tell you their is some departure. Much as Hellboy was this movie was a good introduction to these characters and I am truly interested in now picking up these comics.
Regardless of if you have read the comic or not I say give Constantine a chance. For me it was well worth the price of a ticket.
I give Constantine ^^^^1/2 out of a possible ^^^^^Fangs
Damien
FL Branch Head of ShadowLore, Shadows_of_Florida,
Aim: Strawdead Yahoo: Balderloge
groups.yahoo.com/group/ShadowLore/ groups.yahoo.com/group/Shadows_of_Florida/
Organizer for Tampa Bay Vampires
vampires.meetup.com/76/
groups.yahoo.com/group/TampaBayVampires/
groups.myspace.com/TampaBayVampires
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gavin Rossdale, Djmon Hounsou, Peter Stormare.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Mark Bombeck, Frank Cappello
Rating: R - for violence and demonic images
Running Time: 121 minutes
John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is your all around paranormal investigator, occult expert, and exorcist. He has been rejected by God and is desired by the devil and to make maters worse he is dying. In order to get back into God's good graces he spends his time hunting down half-breed demons who disturb the balance between good and evil and sends them back to Hell. That quest causes him to help Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) a cop trying to uncover the truth behind the mysterious suicide of her twin sister. Now together they must work to stop a plot to raise the son of the devil and bring hell on earth.
I must say Constantine is one of the most original and creative interpretations of the battle between Heaven and Hell that I have ever come across on the big screen. The plot is very intriguing full of twists and turns. Just as intriguing is the cast and characters. Reeves' stoic, no nonsense Constantine is a good departure from the naive Neo. He is a man that knows he is damned and that if he doesn't redeem himself he is doomed to an eternity in hell. Joining him is a wide range of interesting characters such as Papa Midnite (Djmon Hounsou) a former witch doctor who now runs a neutral sanctuary for half-breed demons and angels. Then there is the androgynous half-breed angel Gabriel, and the sophisticated half-breed demon Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale). A truly vile Lucifer also makes an appearance played uniquely by Peter Stormare and we cannot forget the divided, an distraught yet still beautiful Rachel Weisz as Angela.
Added to the plot and great cast are amazing effects. The CGI demons are just eerie and grotesque. The fire and brimstone of Hell truly becomes a visual feast for us. The movie seems to take many images from art, literature, and traditional concepts of angels, demons, and Hell and makes them frightfully real places and entities.
It should be noted that Constantine is based on the Vertigo DC Comics Hellblazer. Not having read any of the comics I cannot comment on how true this movie adaption is to the comic though I can tell you their is some departure. Much as Hellboy was this movie was a good introduction to these characters and I am truly interested in now picking up these comics.
Regardless of if you have read the comic or not I say give Constantine a chance. For me it was well worth the price of a ticket.
I give Constantine ^^^^1/2 out of a possible ^^^^^Fangs
Damien
FL Branch Head of ShadowLore, Shadows_of_Florida,
Aim: Strawdead Yahoo: Balderloge
groups.yahoo.com/group/ShadowLore/ groups.yahoo.com/group/Shadows_of_Florida/
Organizer for Tampa Bay Vampires
vampires.meetup.com/76/
groups.yahoo.com/group/TampaBayVampires/
groups.myspace.com/TampaBayVampires