Constantine

Funny enough watching another really original film brought me here. I was telling someone about it and they said oh you have to watch Constantine, The prophecy, and Devil's Advocate.

Loved The Harbinger and now love all Four of these! This movie has a great ambience and darkness without being a pure jump scare movie. I love the overall mood.

I've seen enough devil movies to know that a lot of them are not very original but these 4 are.

Won't give spoilers, but love the endings to all of them. The Harbinger and The Prophecy have a native American element which I thought was cool, but these two Constantine and Devil's Advocate still have master storytelling and a much higher production value than The Harbinger. Devils Advocate is slightly ahead of Constantine for me. But Thumbs up on Constantine and fun watch!

This is a fable...it's not supposed to be so rooted in reality that we scoff at the implausibilities and the plot holes... We're not watching it to say "look at how that happened" or "why is it all happening here in L.A. when we have these worldwide problems" or...whatever... It has to happen somewhere; either you buy off on the fable and get into the story or you flush it...

While not being Catholic, through theological edification I was able to make sense of storyline, ironies, metaphors, etc... I liked Reaves' character and again, it's a matter of preference - love or hate - but he played Constantine's miserable demon-cop just right - Reaves continues to find rolls suited to his particular, dark style. Special effects were great, and I give the film kudos for not diving in and becoming an effects extravaganza...it remains online to the story and where we're going... Weisz as heroine and Peter Stormare as Lucifer himself were well-cast. What can I say? It was great diversion and a fun DVD to watch. Check it out!

Context.

You need context.

This review penned in 2017, some 12 years after the release.

In this period, Marvel and DC are at each other's throats, each trying to monetize every character, sub-character, plot device and dust bunny from their respective libraries. Regardless of merit. It is all about the dollars.

A story as pure as this one -- penned by Kevin Brodbin -- could never be done today because it lacks the setup for a dozen spinoffs and sequels, as well as the mandatory backstory and product placements.

Sporting two of the most charismatic and photogenic stars of all time, at the peak of their careers, we have a story with no bad lines, no lapses in the arcs, and no time wasted. Just pure, engrossing, film pleasure from beginning to end.

Yes, I know that it was not appreciated in its day. But the future is always the final judge.

((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

In my view an underrated and over-criticized movie - Constantine got nice visuals, an interesting story and some good acting. No masterpiece and not Mr. Reeves best movie but a solid piece of horror if you like to watch movies with demons and exorcism and some good ol' action. Thumbs up.

A one of kind movie that sticks with you, it's unique and striking. The characters are so well cast and well acted, their chemistry drives this movie. The cinematography is perfectly dark and haunting and the effects/CGI still hold up. Constantine is just a cool dark movie that fits a niche religious/demonic genre.