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"Constantine"

As a long time (over fifteen years) fan of the character in his various comic appearances (from his appearance in Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and various other cameos like the Books Of Magic) I sat down last night to watch what I hoped wasn’t an utter train wreck of a movie adaptation called Constantine. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen still leaves a bitter taste. (on a side note, I've seen LOEG 4 times now, almost desperate to like it, but it's not to be)

I will not go into plot here. You can read that on IMDB, and any other review site. What I’m interested in is the transition from comic to screen, and shock horror...

...It’s actually pretty good and not bad at all. It’s not a horror, but more of an Angel Heart by way of Buffy the vampire slayer, with elements of the Blade movies. It's also massively influenced by "The Prophecy" (watch this movie if you have not already. The first with Walken as Gabrial only. The sequels SUCK)

After the initial very aggressive exorcism, I had high hopes for it and while it never quite reaches that level of excitement again, the invention shown in the ideas throughout the movie far surpass the opening buzz.

Reeves manages to convert the Liverpudlian ex-punk street magician (not in the David Blane sense) into a Los Angeles native, his long suffering friend Chas into comic relief and I’ll always hate that element of the movie, but surprisingly they have managed to get the essential essence of the character. Namely, he’s a b’stard, and will leave pain and suffering in his wake with a wisecrack and a tab flicked in your face.

Some knowledge of the comics is at times a bonus “You’ll just die, and be another ghost to follow me around”, but it is no means essential. The closing gesture to a major bad guy is straight out of the comics too, and gave me a massive grin while I nodded my appreciation.

One element I had thought looked totally ridiculous in publicity stills was the “holy shotgun” and it’s still pretty daft but in the context of where he gets it from, it begrudgingly makes sense. Hell, he later breaks out a pair of gold knuckle dusters, complete with Christian crosses engraved on them at which point I had "And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'Oh, Lord, bless this thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thy enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.' running through my head. Fortunately, I was so into the universe the movie created by this point I just thought “why not?”

So, to summarize.

The good

Fairly good anti hero character
More of a plot than your average popcorn horror
Some excellent religious imagery
A corking opening scene
Some Blade style ass kicking
A creepy scenery chewing devil
A bit of a twist
Keano Reeves actually doing a fairly good job (even though he really can’t shake that Bill and Ted “whoa dude” factor)
Some nice effects
Hell as a parallel dimension. Nice.

The Bad
Some silliness
A bit of an ambiguous plot
Some people might lose a bit if they aren’t acquainted with the character
A few ripped off ideas.
* The chair – Xmens “people finder” (cant remember what it’s called)
* A scene almost identical to the popcorn one in “Big Fish”
Chas is now the young comic relief character. Criminal.

All in all, a solid introduction to the world of John Constantine, and far better than crap like “house of the dead” and “boogyman”.

I’ll confidently say that if you enjoyed the Blade movies, you’ll have a blast with this. Roll on the sequel.

IMPORTANT NOTE. The first time someone says on these forums "Oh, but it's not scary" I'll slap them. It's more of a supernatural action movie than a horror. I'd have prefered a straight horror, but you can't have everything......

hagonfite wrote:
> Its not scary. go on give me a slap you joke.

*slap* There you go, you kooky troll you.

Its not scary. go on give me a slap you joke.

Ah, I need to go back and read all my Hellblazer issues now. Well, I wasn't going to watch this film, but you talked me in to it. It now seems that I may even like it...

OK, cheers, I'll have a look next time I'm in my local comic emporium. I did just spend nearly forty quid there this afternoon though, so it could be a while...

Pandaemonium wrote:
> You got my email?

Nope. Mine is kernel funny-at-sign dsl.pipex.com

unknown kernel wrote:

> What's the best place to start with Constantine comics?


Son of Man is a good 'un to start with. Has many references to events in his past, but they served only to intrigue me into buying the others in order to fill in the blanks. Plus it's well written, blackly funny, and utterly horrifying to boot.

Failing that, Dangerous Habits is good (and the basis for the film). I'd steer clear of the Azarello ones at first though; they're decent enough, but unless you have any sort of grounding in what the character has done in his past, they leave one feeling rather cold.

unknown kernel wrote:
> What's the best place to start with Constantine comics?

"Dangerous Habits" is IMHO one of the best comic horror stories ever written. It shows Constantine as the t*** he is, willing to risk heaven and hell going to war just to save his own skin. It's also got one of the most intelligent twists I've read, and a corking payoff.

"Hard Time" is also excellent, and perhaps the crest of the wave before the title descends into mediocrity again (as it tends to do occasionally) When Hellblazer is good, it's excellent, when it's bad, it's terrible.

DC have also put #1 online [URL]http://www.dccomics.com/features/hellblazer/intro.html[/URL] and that's a pretty good, if dated, introduction to the character.

[edit]VERY dated, and almost twee. Still, it sets the groundwork.

You got my email?

Pandaemonium wrote:
> As a long time

What's the best place to start with Constantine comics? I'm always bewildwered by the selection in comic shops, and can never work out if there's a 'beginning' or whether the beginning is any good. If you see what I mean.

I did get the first issue of the Papa Midnite mini-series, which was quite fun.

I don't care what Green or his foreign film club think of this film. I've seen the trailers and read up on it and I think it looks excellent. Really like the art style and although I'm not a fan of Keanu, it sounds like he might actually be good for once.

Green Ferocity wrote:
> I'm expecting it to be a crappy action type movie in the vain of
> elektra and van helsing. Made better by the fact that the main
> character is actually a bit famous. Not that this would sway my
> judgement.

*shrug* Probably not far off, but as I say, I'm a fan of the comics and like to see the source material treat with a little respect.

[edit] Actually, no. Electra is total crap and Van Helsing is below contempt. At Least Constantine has a grain of intelligence to it.

Hotel Rwanda tomorrow, Simlado Sunday. I've had my tat ration for this week with Constantine and resEvil Apocalyspe, time for something with a little substance I think.

[edit2] Ahhh, I forgot. You rarely watch American films anymore do you? Beware Green, you're bordering very close to movie snob territory.

Green Ferocity wrote:
> I'm expecting it to be a crappy action type movie in the vain of
> elektra and van helsing. Made better by the fact that the main
> character is actually a bit famous.

.....and an appalling actor.