Constantine DVD Review (Keanu Reeves) Empire Movies

CONSTANTINE DVD REVIEW

Constantine
(Warner Home Video)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

6.5/10

5/10

Brendan

Showing how much I know about comic books, after watching Constantine on DVD and deciding to write a quick review, I did a bit of research and found out that the movie is based on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer. Who knew?

Constantine is just one of those movies I never got around to seeing until I saw it on sale one day for $15 so I decided to pick up a copy. And then it sat in my house for 8 months before I finally got around to watching it. In the movie, Keanu Reeves stars as John Constantine, a man with the supernatural ability to see angels, demons and half-breeds. He runs around Los Angeles with his trusty sidekick Chas (Shia LeBeouf) and they rid the earth of any demons who might be considering taking a vacation in LA. Constantine's travels lead him to a copper named Angela (Rachel Weisz) who also has a special ability to see the future (although she doesn't know it). She asks Constantine to help her investigate her twin sister's mysterious suicide and their searching and snooping leads them to hell and back - literally. Constantine also stars the likes of Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale (Gwen Stefani's husband), Tilda Swinton and Peter Stormare as Satan himself (in his pre-Prison Break days).

Constantine is a decent flick, at least for sitting at home on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It's got a decent story, a bit of excitement, some okay effects and, unlike most people in the world (or so it seems), I really don't have a problem with Keanu Reeves. Why are so many people on his case about his acting ability? He's really not that bad. Anyways, my main problem with Constantine would be in the last 20 minutes or so of the movie. It just lost me. I found whatever they were trying to translate from the script onto the screen didn't come across so well. The characters spent a lot of time whispering to each other and were difficult to understand. I'm not sure I understood the role of the angel Gabriel. There just seemed to be a lot going on that, unless you were an actual fan of the comic book, it would be really hard to figure out. It's not like the entire movie was like this - for the most part it was pretty straight forward. But near the end, I kind of got lost.

As for the DVD, well, for $15 or whatever I spent on it, you're not going to get much in terms of extras. I see there is a Deluxe Edition out that is loaded with bonus features, but the DVD I have has the bare minimum. There are only 14 deleted scenes with an option to have a commentary by director Francis Lawrence and the trailer for the movie. The 14 deleted scenes are not too bad, although I can understand why they cut out the whole story involving Michelle Monaghan from the movie. Not a bad special feature but if you want more, get the deluxe version.

Overall, as I said earlier, Constantine is a decent movie that might be a bit hard to follow at times for some of us. The movie lacks clear explanations for some of the characters and some of the scenarios but it also has moments where it is quite exciting and quite interesting. Not the best man vs. evil movie I have ever seen but an okay movie nonetheless.

Oh, and if you do decide to watch this movie, keep watching right through the final credits because there is a small bit at the very end of the movie.

Features
18 Minutes of Additional Scenes Including an Alternate Ending
Theatrical Trailer
Exclusive DVD-ROM Content

Video
Widescreen (2.40:1)

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English
French
Spanish
Closed-Captioned

Release Date
July 19, 2005

Rating
R

Length
121 mins.

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