Constantine (film)
Encyclopedia
Constantine is a 2005 American action
horror film
directed by Francis Lawrence
as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves
as John Constantine
, with Rachel Weisz
, Shia LaBeouf
, Tilda Swinton
, and Djimon Hounsou
. The film is based on Vertigo Comics' Hellblazer
comic book, with plot elements taken from the "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41-46) and the "Original Sins" trade paperback.
The film, which was met by film critics with mostly mixed reactions, portrays John Constantine as a cynic
with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true form. He seeks salvation from eternal damnation
in Hell
for a suicide attempt
in his youth. Constantine exorcises demons back to Hell in a bid to earn favor with Heaven
but has become weary over time. With death
looming, he helps a troubled police detective learn the truth about her sister's death while simultaneously unraveling a much larger and darker plot.
Constantine was released in Hong Kong
on March 8, 2005, and in the United States and Canada on March 18, 2005.
," Constantine (Keanu Reeves
) seeks an audience with the androgynous
half-breed angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton
). Gabriel advises that because he performs the exorcisms for his own benefit, they are vain acts that will not spare him from Hell. After his meeting with Gabriel, Constantine is attacked by a full-fledged demon. After a meeting with a former witch doctor
known as Papa Midnite (Djimon Honsou) fails to produce answers, Constantine begins investigating the situation with his associates Beeman (Max Baker), Hennessy (Pruitt Taylor Vince
), and Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf
). L.A.P.D.
Detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz
) shows up at Constantine's condo seeking consultation regarding her investigation of the death of her twin sister Isabel, who leapt from the roof of a mental hospital. Constantine tells Angela that God and Lucifer are engaged in a proxy war
; a standing wager for the souls of all mankind. Neither true angels nor demons can manifest on Earth, but they are allowed to possess and influence humans.
Through Hennessy and Beeman's findings, Constantine learns that Mammon, Lucifer's son, seeks to create his own kingdom on Earth by breaking through onto the human plane. To do so, Mammon requires a powerful psychic, Isabel, who was provided by the half-demon Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale
). After reporting the information, Hennessy and Beeman are found dead and Constantine concludes that Balthazar was responsible. Angela reveals that she possessed the same gift as her sister but denied it to the point that it became inactive. Constantine reawakens Angela's psychic ability through a near death experience
, then hunts down and interrogates Balthazar who reveals that Mammon has obtained the Spear of Destiny
, which has the blood of Jesus Christ
encrusted on it. Angela is abducted by an unseen force and taken to Isabel's hospital to be used as the portal for Mammon’s entrance to Earth. Constantine storms Midnite’s club and Midnite allows him to use "The Chair", an old electric chair
from Sing Sing Prison
that had killed over 200 inmates, and it shows Constantine a vision that the Spear was discovered in Mexico
and has been brought to Los Angeles
. Constantine and Chas head to the hospital and interrupt the ritual, but Chas is beaten to death by an unseen force in the process.
Using incantation
s and sigils
tattooed on his arms, Constantine reveals the force to be Gabriel but the angel promptly subdues Constantine. Gabriel laments God’s favoritism towards humans and believes that bringing Hell to Earth will enable those who survive to become truly worthy of God’s love through repentance and faith. Gabriel then throws Constantine from the room and begins to release Mammon. As Gabriel moves to stab Angela with the Spear and release Mammon, Constantine slits his wrists. Time stops as Lucifer
(Peter Stormare
) arrives to personally collect his soul. Constantine tells Lucifer about Mammon’s plan and Lucifer sends Mammon back to Hell to keep Mammon from conquering Earth before him. When Gabriel attempts to smite Lucifer, the angel's wings are burned away and Gabriel becomes human. In return for helping Lucifer, Constantine is owed a favor and asks that Isabel be allowed to go to Heaven. Lucifer obliges and begins to drag Constantine to Hell, but his self sacrifice has redeemed him and he begins to rise into Heaven. Infuriated and wishing to reacquire Constantine's soul, Lucifer heals his wounds and cures him of his lung cancer so that he may live again. Constantine departs with the Spear after refusing the temptation to kill Gabriel, and gives the Spear to Angela instructing her to hide it. In the closing scene instead of smoking a cigarette, like in the past, he starts to chew on some nicotine gum
. In a post credit scene Constantine visits Chas’ grave and watches as he rises into Heaven as an angel.
’ "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41–46) and others—such as the inclusion of Papa Midnite—from the Original Sins trade paperback. However, the film changed several aspects of the source material, including a number of cosmetic changes to the lead character’s appearance: Reeves played the role with his natural accent and hair colour whilst the original character was intentionally drawn to resemble English musician Sting and originally came from Liverpool
. The film was also set in Los Angeles, with the director pointing out that the comic book was not exclusively set in London either.
Other differences to the character were made, such as giving him the psychic ability to see "half-breeds" as they truly are. That ability, in the film, is what caused him to attempt suicide and which led to his damnation rather than his role in summoning a demon that killed a young girl. The resolution of the lung cancer plotline in the film was also amended, with Lucifer saving the redeemed Constantine to give him a second chance at falling rather than being tricked into doing so as was seen in the comic book. Scenes with actress Michelle Monaghan
as Constantine's lover, a half-breed demon named Ellie, based on the succubus Ellie
in the Hellblazer comics, were cut from the movie to make Constantine more of a lonely character.
The film’s title was changed from Hellblazer to Constantine to avoid confusion with the Clive Barker
Hellraiser
films. The comics series itself was originally to be titled Hellraiser but was also retitled to avoid confusion with the film, released the previous year.
Director Francis Lawrence decided to base the idea of Hell "on the geography of what's around us now." He further explained:
The novelization further ascribes Hell's setting in that the buildings are lined with blood instead of mortar and built with the souls of the damned rather than brick.
, composer for films such as Eagle Eye
and Fast & Furious, and Klaus Badelt
, composer for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
film series.
The songs "Passive
" by A Perfect Circle
(released in conjunction with the film and heard in the walk through Midnite’s bar) and "Take Five
" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
(heard on a record played by Constantine) were not included. The soundtrack was panned by Allmusic, who referred to it as "clichéd and religiously formulaic."
and a video game adaption
of the film was also produced. Warner Home Video
announced that the film was to be released on HD DVD
on March 28, 2006. It would be one of the earliest titles to be released on that media format. However, following delays to the launch of the HD DVD format (which pushed back the release of many of the initially announced titles), Constantine eventually made its debut on HD DVD on June 6, 2006. Warner Home Video
released a Blu-ray Disc
version of the film on October 14, 2008.
, the film holds a normalized
rating of 46% based on the reviews of 214 critics with an average rating of 5.5/10. At Metacritic
, an aggregation site which assigns a weighted average, the film holds a rating of 50 out of 100 based on the reviews of 41 critics.
Richard Corliss of Time
magazine praised the film calling it "a one-of-a-kind hybrid: a theological noir action film". In crediting the actors, he specifically cited Keanu Reeves' ability to "retain his charisma in [a] weird-silly moment" in addition to the performances of Tilda Swinton whom he referred to as "immaculately decadent", Rachel Weisz, and Peter Stormare. He also praised Francis Lawrence's usage of a significant number of camera locations and angles. He was, however, critical of the movies climax, referring to it as "irrevocably goofy".
Ella Taylor of L.A. Weekly gave the film positive feedback, as did Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times
who each respectively stated, "Constantine, which opts in the end for what I can only describe as a kind of supernatural humanism, is not without its spiritual satisfactions." and, "Keanu Reeves has no peer when it comes to playing these sort of messianic roles -- he infuses them with a Zen blankness and serenity that somehow gets him through even the unlikeliest scenes with a quiet, unassuming dignity."
Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat
gave the film 3 stars out of 5, stating that "the film (barely) succeeds, thanks to impressive visuals, the idea of an uncaring God wagering with Satan for souls, and two immensely enjoyable scenes (one with Weisz, one with Stormare) in which Reeves actually plays his character as the cynical asshole he really is." He further lamented Keanu Reeves' acting by stating that the film hinged upon Reeves' ability to portray the character of John Constantine - and fails upon his inability to pull it off. He compared his performance to being in a "dazed countenance". "John Constantine is supposedly a world-weary cynic, unsentimental and aloof thanks to his years of demon busting, but Reeves seems incapable of projecting this. He manages well enough during the fight scenes, and had “Constantine” been more of a straight-up action picture, this would be sufficient. Horror seems out of his league, sadly." He was highly in favor of the performances of Djimon Honsou and Peter Stormare, though he found them to be underutilized. Additionally, he applauded the work of Rachel Weisz in the film. He praised Francis Lawrence's ability to set up a horror environment, citing the film's environmental depictions - especially of Hell, its CGI work, and "creepy" atmosphere but took issue with numerable plot holes and inconsistencies depicted in the film.
Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News
gave the film a 2.5 out of 5, stating, "For all its spiritual angst, Constantine is about as silly as fantasies get." Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun
also gave the film a 2.5 out of 5, stating, "It all comes off as a case of filmmakers wanting to have their communion wafer and eat it, too." Desson Thomson, a writer for The Washington Post, had similar sentiments of the film, specifically panning the films distancing from the series of graphic novels upon which it is based:
Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, panning the depiction of hell as "a post-nuclear Los Angeles created by animators with a hangover", the premise of the film itself:
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
as John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
, with Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
, Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
, Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
, and Djimon Hounsou
Djimon Hounsou
Djimon Diaw Hounsou is a Beninese actor and model. As an actor, Hounsou has been nominated for two Academy Awards.-Early life:Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1964, to lbertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He emigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond....
. The film is based on Vertigo Comics' Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...
comic book, with plot elements taken from the "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41-46) and the "Original Sins" trade paperback.
The film, which was met by film critics with mostly mixed reactions, portrays John Constantine as a cynic
Cynicism
Cynicism , in its original form, refers to the beliefs of an ancient school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics . Their philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and...
with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true form. He seeks salvation from eternal damnation
Mortal sin
Mortal sins are in the theology of some, but not all Christian denominations wrongful acts that condemn a person to Hell after death. These sins are considered "mortal" because they constitute a rupture in a person's link to God's saving grace: the person's soul becomes "dead", not merely weakened...
in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
for a suicide attempt
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in his youth. Constantine exorcises demons back to Hell in a bid to earn favor with Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
but has become weary over time. With death
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
looming, he helps a troubled police detective learn the truth about her sister's death while simultaneously unraveling a much larger and darker plot.
Constantine was released in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
on March 8, 2005, and in the United States and Canada on March 18, 2005.
Plot
After a case involving a full-fledged demon trying to break onto the "human planePhysical plane
The physical plane , physical world, or physical universe, in emanationist metaphysics such as are found in Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, Hinduism and Theosophy, refers to the visible reality of space and time, energy and matter: the physical universe in Occultism and esoteric cosmology is the lowest...
," Constantine (Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
) seeks an audience with the androgynous
Androgyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
half-breed angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
). Gabriel advises that because he performs the exorcisms for his own benefit, they are vain acts that will not spare him from Hell. After his meeting with Gabriel, Constantine is attacked by a full-fledged demon. After a meeting with a former witch doctor
Witch doctor
A witch doctor originally referred to a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. It is currently used to refer to healers in some third world regions, who use traditional healing rather than contemporary medicine...
known as Papa Midnite (Djimon Honsou) fails to produce answers, Constantine begins investigating the situation with his associates Beeman (Max Baker), Hennessy (Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
), and Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
). L.A.P.D.
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
Detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
) shows up at Constantine's condo seeking consultation regarding her investigation of the death of her twin sister Isabel, who leapt from the roof of a mental hospital. Constantine tells Angela that God and Lucifer are engaged in a proxy war
Proxy war
A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed...
; a standing wager for the souls of all mankind. Neither true angels nor demons can manifest on Earth, but they are allowed to possess and influence humans.
Through Hennessy and Beeman's findings, Constantine learns that Mammon, Lucifer's son, seeks to create his own kingdom on Earth by breaking through onto the human plane. To do so, Mammon requires a powerful psychic, Isabel, who was provided by the half-demon Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale
Gavin Rossdale
Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...
). After reporting the information, Hennessy and Beeman are found dead and Constantine concludes that Balthazar was responsible. Angela reveals that she possessed the same gift as her sister but denied it to the point that it became inactive. Constantine reawakens Angela's psychic ability through a near death experience
Near death experience
A near-death experience refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution;...
, then hunts down and interrogates Balthazar who reveals that Mammon has obtained the Spear of Destiny
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
, which has the blood of Jesus Christ
Blood of Christ
The Blood of Christ in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby; and the sacramental blood present in the Eucharist, which is considered by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and...
encrusted on it. Angela is abducted by an unseen force and taken to Isabel's hospital to be used as the portal for Mammon’s entrance to Earth. Constantine storms Midnite’s club and Midnite allows him to use "The Chair", an old electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
from Sing Sing Prison
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
that had killed over 200 inmates, and it shows Constantine a vision that the Spear was discovered in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and has been brought to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Constantine and Chas head to the hospital and interrupt the ritual, but Chas is beaten to death by an unseen force in the process.
Using incantation
Incantation
An incantation or enchantment is a charm or spell created using words. An incantation may take place during a ritual, either a hymn or prayer, and may invoke or praise a deity. In magic, occultism, witchcraft it may be used with the intention of casting a spell on an object or a person...
s and sigils
Sigil (magic)
A sigil is a symbol created for a specific magical purpose. A sigil is usually made up of a complex combination of several specific symbols or geometric figures, each with a specific meaning or intent.- Name and origin :...
tattooed on his arms, Constantine reveals the force to be Gabriel but the angel promptly subdues Constantine. Gabriel laments God’s favoritism towards humans and believes that bringing Hell to Earth will enable those who survive to become truly worthy of God’s love through repentance and faith. Gabriel then throws Constantine from the room and begins to release Mammon. As Gabriel moves to stab Angela with the Spear and release Mammon, Constantine slits his wrists. Time stops as Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
(Peter Stormare
Peter Stormare
is a Swedish film, stage, voice and television actor as well as a theatrical director, playwright and musician.- Early life :...
) arrives to personally collect his soul. Constantine tells Lucifer about Mammon’s plan and Lucifer sends Mammon back to Hell to keep Mammon from conquering Earth before him. When Gabriel attempts to smite Lucifer, the angel's wings are burned away and Gabriel becomes human. In return for helping Lucifer, Constantine is owed a favor and asks that Isabel be allowed to go to Heaven. Lucifer obliges and begins to drag Constantine to Hell, but his self sacrifice has redeemed him and he begins to rise into Heaven. Infuriated and wishing to reacquire Constantine's soul, Lucifer heals his wounds and cures him of his lung cancer so that he may live again. Constantine departs with the Spear after refusing the temptation to kill Gabriel, and gives the Spear to Angela instructing her to hide it. In the closing scene instead of smoking a cigarette, like in the past, he starts to chew on some nicotine gum
Nicotine gum
Nicotine gum is a type of chewing gum that delivers nicotine to the body. It is used as an aid in nicotine replacement therapy , a process for smoking cessation and quitting smokeless tobacco. The nicotine is delivered to the bloodstream via absorption by the tissues of the mouth.It is currently...
. In a post credit scene Constantine visits Chas’ grave and watches as he rises into Heaven as an angel.
Cast
- Keanu ReevesKeanu ReevesKeanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
as John ConstantineJohn ConstantineJohn Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
, a chain-smoking cynical individual with the ability to perceive the true visage of half-angels and half-demons on the human planeAstral planeThe astral plane, also called the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical , medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions...
. Constantine is damned to hell for suicide -- a mortal sin -- and has terminal lung cancer. - Rachel WeiszRachel WeiszRachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
as Detective Angela Dodson & Isabel Dodson:- As Angela Dodson, a troubled Los Angeles Police Department Detective investigating what she believes to be the murder of her twin sister, Isabel.
- As Isabel Dodson, a powerful psychicPsychicA psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
and involuntarily committedInvoluntary commitmentInvoluntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
mental patient with the ability to see half-demons and half-angels. She is damned to hell for committing suicide.
- Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeoufShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
as Chas Kramer, John Constantine's driver and student. Kramer has a strong interest in the occult and helps Constantine whenever possible in order to gain knowledge and experience from him. - Tilda SwintonTilda SwintonKatherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
as Gabriel, an androgynousAndrogynyAndrogyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
, half-breed angel with a disdain for humanityMisanthropyMisanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
. - Pruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
as Father Hennessy, an insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
c, alcoholic priest with the ability to communicate with the deadMediumshipMediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
. He constantly drinks in order to "keep the voices out". - Djimon HounsouDjimon HounsouDjimon Diaw Hounsou is a Beninese actor and model. As an actor, Hounsou has been nominated for two Academy Awards.-Early life:Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1964, to lbertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He emigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond....
as Papa Midnite, a former witch-doctor who once fought against hell. After swearing an oath of neutrality - unless one side should tip the balance of power - he opened a nightclub to serve as neutral meeting ground for both sides of the war between heaven and hell. - Gavin RossdaleGavin RossdaleGavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...
as Balthazar, a half-breed demon with a special penchant for, and personal history with Constantine. - Peter StormarePeter Stormareis a Swedish film, stage, voice and television actor as well as a theatrical director, playwright and musician.- Early life :...
as LuciferFirst of the FallenThe First of the Fallen is a fictional demon published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. He debuted in Hellblazer #42 , and was created by Garth Ennis and Will Simpson,-Publication history:...
, a fallen angel who is in a proxy war with GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
for the souls of all mankind. Lucifer loathes Constantine with such vigor that Constantine's is the only soul which he would ever come up to the Earth planePlane (esotericism)In esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the physical plane is conceived as a subtle state of consciousness that transcends the known physical universe....
from Hell to personally collect. - Max Baker as Beeman, a friend of Constantine's with a liking for exotic materials and insects. He serves as both a supplier of holy objects and relayer of information to Constantine.
Production
Constantine was written using some elements from Garth EnnisGarth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
’ "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41–46) and others—such as the inclusion of Papa Midnite—from the Original Sins trade paperback. However, the film changed several aspects of the source material, including a number of cosmetic changes to the lead character’s appearance: Reeves played the role with his natural accent and hair colour whilst the original character was intentionally drawn to resemble English musician Sting and originally came from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The film was also set in Los Angeles, with the director pointing out that the comic book was not exclusively set in London either.
Other differences to the character were made, such as giving him the psychic ability to see "half-breeds" as they truly are. That ability, in the film, is what caused him to attempt suicide and which led to his damnation rather than his role in summoning a demon that killed a young girl. The resolution of the lung cancer plotline in the film was also amended, with Lucifer saving the redeemed Constantine to give him a second chance at falling rather than being tricked into doing so as was seen in the comic book. Scenes with actress Michelle Monaghan
Michelle Monaghan
Michelle Lynn Monaghan is an American actress known for her roles in Mission: Impossible III, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Gone Baby Gone, Made of Honor, The Heartbreak Kid, Eagle Eye, and Source Code.-Early life:...
as Constantine's lover, a half-breed demon named Ellie, based on the succubus Ellie
Chantinelle
Chantinelle, or Ellie, is a fictional demon published by DC Comics. She debuted in Hellblazer #43 , and was created by Garth Ennis and Will Simpson.-Fictional character biography:...
in the Hellblazer comics, were cut from the movie to make Constantine more of a lonely character.
The film’s title was changed from Hellblazer to Constantine to avoid confusion with the Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
Hellraiser
Hellraiser
Hellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
films. The comics series itself was originally to be titled Hellraiser but was also retitled to avoid confusion with the film, released the previous year.
Director Francis Lawrence decided to base the idea of Hell "on the geography of what's around us now." He further explained:
The novelization further ascribes Hell's setting in that the buildings are lined with blood instead of mortar and built with the souls of the damned rather than brick.
Soundtrack
Constantine: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a 2005 soundtrack album from the film of the same name. The soundtrack is a orchestral compilation of songs in the film, performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony and composed by Brian TylerBrian Tyler (composer)
Brian Tyler is an American composer, producer, conductor, and film producer most known for his scores of Eagle Eye, The Expendables, Battle: Los Angeles, The Final Destination, Rambo, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Final Destination 5. Tyler is a symphonic conductor and conducts his own scores....
, composer for films such as Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye is a 2008 thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The two portray a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out a plan by a possible terrorist organization...
and Fast & Furious, and Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
, composer for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall , written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
film series.
The songs "Passive
Passive (song)
"Passive" is a song from the band A Perfect Circle's 2004 album eMOTIVe The song is a remake of the song "Vacant" by the now-defunct band Tapeworm."Vacant" was notably first performed by A Perfect Circle without Trent Reznor's agreement.-Track listing:...
" by A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock supergroup formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. The original incarnation of the band also included Paz Lenchantin on bass, Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, and Tim Alexander on drums...
(released in conjunction with the film and heard in the walk through Midnite’s bar) and "Take Five
Take Five
"Take Five" is a jazz piece written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, this piece became one of the group's best-known records, famous for its...
" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
(heard on a record played by Constantine) were not included. The soundtrack was panned by Allmusic, who referred to it as "clichéd and religiously formulaic."
Release
Constantine was a financial success, grossing $230,884,728 in worldwide gross sales. To tie into the films release, a novelization by John ShirleyJohn Shirley
John Shirley is an American fantasist, author of noir fiction, and science-fiction writer. Shirley is a prolific writer of novels and short stories, TV scripts and screenplays who has published over 30 books and 10 collections...
and a video game adaption
Constantine (video game)
Constantine is an action-adventure video game developed by Bits Studios and published by THQ in 2005 for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox.It is a movie tie-in license of the Warner Bros...
of the film was also produced. Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
announced that the film was to be released on HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
on March 28, 2006. It would be one of the earliest titles to be released on that media format. However, following delays to the launch of the HD DVD format (which pushed back the release of many of the initially announced titles), Constantine eventually made its debut on HD DVD on June 6, 2006. Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released a Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
version of the film on October 14, 2008.
Critical response
Constantine was met by critics with mixed reviews. At the review aggregation site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film holds a normalized
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating of 46% based on the reviews of 214 critics with an average rating of 5.5/10. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, an aggregation site which assigns a weighted average, the film holds a rating of 50 out of 100 based on the reviews of 41 critics.
Richard Corliss of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine praised the film calling it "a one-of-a-kind hybrid: a theological noir action film". In crediting the actors, he specifically cited Keanu Reeves' ability to "retain his charisma in [a] weird-silly moment" in addition to the performances of Tilda Swinton whom he referred to as "immaculately decadent", Rachel Weisz, and Peter Stormare. He also praised Francis Lawrence's usage of a significant number of camera locations and angles. He was, however, critical of the movies climax, referring to it as "irrevocably goofy".
Ella Taylor of L.A. Weekly gave the film positive feedback, as did Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
who each respectively stated, "Constantine, which opts in the end for what I can only describe as a kind of supernatural humanism, is not without its spiritual satisfactions." and, "Keanu Reeves has no peer when it comes to playing these sort of messianic roles -- he infuses them with a Zen blankness and serenity that somehow gets him through even the unlikeliest scenes with a quiet, unassuming dignity."
Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
gave the film 3 stars out of 5, stating that "the film (barely) succeeds, thanks to impressive visuals, the idea of an uncaring God wagering with Satan for souls, and two immensely enjoyable scenes (one with Weisz, one with Stormare) in which Reeves actually plays his character as the cynical asshole he really is." He further lamented Keanu Reeves' acting by stating that the film hinged upon Reeves' ability to portray the character of John Constantine - and fails upon his inability to pull it off. He compared his performance to being in a "dazed countenance". "John Constantine is supposedly a world-weary cynic, unsentimental and aloof thanks to his years of demon busting, but Reeves seems incapable of projecting this. He manages well enough during the fight scenes, and had “Constantine” been more of a straight-up action picture, this would be sufficient. Horror seems out of his league, sadly." He was highly in favor of the performances of Djimon Honsou and Peter Stormare, though he found them to be underutilized. Additionally, he applauded the work of Rachel Weisz in the film. He praised Francis Lawrence's ability to set up a horror environment, citing the film's environmental depictions - especially of Hell, its CGI work, and "creepy" atmosphere but took issue with numerable plot holes and inconsistencies depicted in the film.
Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
gave the film a 2.5 out of 5, stating, "For all its spiritual angst, Constantine is about as silly as fantasies get." Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
also gave the film a 2.5 out of 5, stating, "It all comes off as a case of filmmakers wanting to have their communion wafer and eat it, too." Desson Thomson, a writer for The Washington Post, had similar sentiments of the film, specifically panning the films distancing from the series of graphic novels upon which it is based:
Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, panning the depiction of hell as "a post-nuclear Los Angeles created by animators with a hangover", the premise of the film itself: