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Watched this last night after much anticipation. Verdict - Good, but not great.
Some aspects just weren't given any screen-time. We see el-burro there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
Rachel Weisz managed to be irritating and her character not that believable. Ok, sure, it's an adaptation of a comic about a man that goes to hell and sees demons, so it doesn't have to be 100% true to life. But seeing a man steaming with his feet in a bucket of water and a cat in his hand, clutching her dead sisters hospital name tag, is enough to convince her of his fantastic story. Further to that she then lets him drown her, based on a promise of seeing her again.
Still, I didn't dislike it, the depictions of hell were quite disturbing, although I've seen worse elsewhere. The blade-esque fight with the holy water in the sprinkler system, was brief but enjoyable. The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought, especially when compared to Al Pacinos excellent portrayal of the dark lord in Devils Advocate. Certainly to my mind, the finest film dealing with similar subject matter.
May watch it again, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.
Some aspects just weren't given any screen-time. We see el-burro there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
Rachel Weisz managed to be irritating and her character not that believable. Ok, sure, it's an adaptation of a comic about a man that goes to hell and sees demons, so it doesn't have to be 100% true to life. But seeing a man steaming with his feet in a bucket of water and a cat in his hand, clutching her dead sisters hospital name tag, is enough to convince her of his fantastic story. Further to that she then lets him drown her, based on a promise of seeing her again.
Still, I didn't dislike it, the depictions of hell were quite disturbing, although I've seen worse elsewhere. The blade-esque fight with the holy water in the sprinkler system, was brief but enjoyable. The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought, especially when compared to Al Pacinos excellent portrayal of the dark lord in Devils Advocate. Certainly to my mind, the finest film dealing with similar subject matter.
May watch it again, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.
spoiler: it's crap.
ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
We see el-burro
> there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying
> in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and
> has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the
> whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he
> re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
>
I noticed that too...it seems to be most peoples main criticism of the film!
We see el-burro
> there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying
> in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and
> has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the
> whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he
> re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
>
I noticed that too...it seems to be most peoples main criticism of the film!
Watched this last night after much anticipation. Verdict - Good, but
> not great.
That's about right. The comics are if anything, more realistic. There's no holy shotgun or holy knuckledusters, just a liverpudlian tw@t with a grude against the whole world. He never travels to hell btw. The movie introduced that idea, as well as his suicide. In the comics he's just a street magician.
ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
> The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought
It's almost a straight copy of Lucifer from "The Prophecy"
Devils advocate bored me senseless to be honest. Hated the tagged on audience pleasing ending too. He should have just shot himself and be done with it. one step to the side of "It was all a dream". Pha! I spit at thee.
> not great.
That's about right. The comics are if anything, more realistic. There's no holy shotgun or holy knuckledusters, just a liverpudlian tw@t with a grude against the whole world. He never travels to hell btw. The movie introduced that idea, as well as his suicide. In the comics he's just a street magician.
ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
> The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought
It's almost a straight copy of Lucifer from "The Prophecy"
Devils advocate bored me senseless to be honest. Hated the tagged on audience pleasing ending too. He should have just shot himself and be done with it. one step to the side of "It was all a dream". Pha! I spit at thee.
I loved it, thought it was packed with loads of fresh and original ideas - the priest who couldn't drink water, entering hell via a cat and a basin of water etc. - and Keanu's grumpy slacker attitude suits the role for once. Loved Constantine giving Satan the finger at the end, too.
Watched this last night after much anticipation. Verdict - Good, but not great.
Some aspects just weren't given any screen-time. We see el-burro there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
Rachel Weisz managed to be irritating and her character not that believable. Ok, sure, it's an adaptation of a comic about a man that goes to hell and sees demons, so it doesn't have to be 100% true to life. But seeing a man steaming with his feet in a bucket of water and a cat in his hand, clutching her dead sisters hospital name tag, is enough to convince her of his fantastic story. Further to that she then lets him drown her, based on a promise of seeing her again.
Still, I didn't dislike it, the depictions of hell were quite disturbing, although I've seen worse elsewhere. The blade-esque fight with the holy water in the sprinkler system, was brief but enjoyable. The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought, especially when compared to Al Pacinos excellent portrayal of the dark lord in Devils Advocate. Certainly to my mind, the finest film dealing with similar subject matter.
May watch it again, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.
Some aspects just weren't given any screen-time. We see el-burro there march miles with his new found spear of destiny, animals dying in his wake, anticipation builds as we see he cannot be killed and has superhuman strength. Then we don't see him for pretty much the whole film, and have almost forgotten he exists by the time he re-appears, in a limp wristed, barely thrilling scene.
Rachel Weisz managed to be irritating and her character not that believable. Ok, sure, it's an adaptation of a comic about a man that goes to hell and sees demons, so it doesn't have to be 100% true to life. But seeing a man steaming with his feet in a bucket of water and a cat in his hand, clutching her dead sisters hospital name tag, is enough to convince her of his fantastic story. Further to that she then lets him drown her, based on a promise of seeing her again.
Still, I didn't dislike it, the depictions of hell were quite disturbing, although I've seen worse elsewhere. The blade-esque fight with the holy water in the sprinkler system, was brief but enjoyable. The character of Satan was pretty poor I thought, especially when compared to Al Pacinos excellent portrayal of the dark lord in Devils Advocate. Certainly to my mind, the finest film dealing with similar subject matter.
May watch it again, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.