Redemption for Keanu’s Constantine
Constantine came on FX the other night, and I re-watched it, pretending that it had nothing to do with Hellblazer. Viewed through that lens, it’s not so bad, but it still falls in my dead zone: neither good enough to sit through nor bad enough to laugh through. And in the interest of full disclosure, I admit that I failed to disassociate it from the comic series. I mean, come on! It’s John Constantine, innit!
I’d love to hear from people who think otherwise (it’s so subjective), but I found this Constantine more tiresome than compelling. A suicide-induced Flatliners moment damned him, and now, like some two-bit exorcist, he goes door to door sending errant demons back to Hell to curry God’s favor (yawn) so he can get into heaven. Hey! Isn’t that almost the plot of Reaper? Where’s the nuance from the comics?
Fortunately for you, me and everyone we know, Tilda Swinton has a habit of making otherwise meh movies worth watching. Here she is as the wonderfully androgynous archangel Gabriel:
John Constantine, Tilda Swinton in hooker pants kicking Keanu Reeves’ ass, and, hey, it’s even got boy-of-the-moment Shia LeBeouf as Chas… How could it have gone so wrong?
We’ve made it clear that we think Keanu Reeves as Constantine is some of the worst casting ever. Re-watch the clip above and imagine the same lines acted as if they were based on any version of John Constantine from the comics. Not so bad, right? But that faux-intense effect that Mr. Reeves uses kills any affection and respect I had for the character.
I’m not savvy enough to discern if that’s a fault of the acting or the directing, but here’s director Francis Lawrence’s IMDB entry. It’s impressive in its own right, but there’s not much in the way of turning other successful dark comic series into films.
As we said in the vlog, don’t enter the Hellblazer universe though this movie. As an alternative, I’ve put some of my favorite TPBs in this handy Amazon widget.
I’d love to hear your recommendations. And I especially want to hear from those who liked Constantine the film. John Constantine is too close to my heart for me to be truly objective, and I’m open to hearing what good things I might have missed in the movie.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:12 am
I think Callum Keith Rennie would have been a good Constantine… But I don’t think they were really trying that hard to adapt the comics.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:28 am
As someone who’s never read the comics and coming to the movie with a fresh perspective I found the movie truly enjoyable, and though I can see why some people find Keanu Reeves a bad actor I personally don’t have a problem with his acting. That being said, after watching it and hearing about the whitewashing of his sexuality I was pretty disgusted as I am anytime coverups are made. Oh and Tilda Swinton FTW!!!
May 10th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Randommer - Indeed and indeed.
FieldMedic - I have a feeling I wouldn’t be so averse to it if it were called “Joe Jackson, Helldude” instead of mucking up the comics so bad.
In all fairness about his sexuality, the original is bisexual, and unless I missed it, they didn’t explicitly exclude that possibility anywhere in the movie.
If they ever do a sequel, he’d better have a boyfriend! ;)
May 10th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I have to say that like FieldMedic that having not read any Hellblazer before I also found the film enjoyable even with questionable casting for certain parts (Keanu Reeves only seemed to have one facial expression/emotion and I really don’t like Shia LaBeouf in any film - sorry). I have to say that Tilda Swinton was fantastic as Gabriel, she really made the film for me. After finding out that the film was based on the comic series I was curious to read it but the film killed that curiosity quite quickly. Now with this post and your latest vlog I’ll definitely check it out though (once my exams are done), any suggestions on where I should start from or what I should try first to get me into the series?
May 11th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
i donno, but in my option keanu reeves was a better casting than Nicolas Cage as ghost rider
May 11th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I hate Shia LeBeouf too, and so I now love Rob.
I avoided (and continue to avoid) this film, but Tilda! Oh! She’d be perfect as Desire if they ever make a Sandman picture… actually, she could pretty much play every one of the Endless, except for Destruction. That would be interesting.
May 13th, 2008 at 7:56 am
When I watched Constantine, I was certain there was something wrong with it, even though I’ve never read the comics. It just seemed way too trite, like some sort of weird romanticized fanfic of a legitimately dark comic.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:09 am
What annoyed me most was that Constantine is just so much more kickarse in the comics. For one, he got out of going to hell in a far more awesome fashion in the comics. God didn’t save Constantine. The man saved himself by making multiple deals with multiple demons. He would also never quit smoking.
Tilda Swindon FTW indeed. If I were to ever watch this movie again, it would be for her.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:25 am
When I saw this movie I hadnt read the comics. I tought it was a bad and boring sequal to the Matrix, similar look, same cardboard performance by Keanu, weird religious storyline.
After reading the comics, its just wrong, wrong.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Daniel Craig would make a brilliant Constantine, I think…!