Review posted again because it was removed, only two people would know why, one is the admin from mouthshut and the other God! And neither of them are telling me why!
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Constantine Movie Review
Flash back.
There are always some movies every year that I keep track of, right from the production stage till the movie is released(mainly through rottentomatoes.com and comingsoon.net). Constantine was one such movie, I have been waiting for ages to watch this movie.
Back to the present.
Went to the best cinema hall in town, got myself a balcony ticket and was thinking I'm going to have a wonderful time watching the movie. I did, but..
The experience.
Sometimes watching an english movie in Indian cinema halls is one very good way of testing ur patience.
There are two types of people that help u to test ur patience at the cinema hall.
Type A, they come just because somebody invited them,at the time of entering the cinema hall they know nothing about the movie other than what they can interpret from the posters and trailers.
Type B,they come because the front row seats are cheap and the local channels say that Constantine is just like Van Helsing (Gosh, how I wish these channels knew a little more about Hollywood!)
Patience test no 1, test code #@$&-01
Lights switched down, Movie starts, opening sequence is spectacular!.Just when I thought I was going to enjoy this, people start coming in, 5 mins late. They don't know where their seats are, so they decide the best thing to do is to stand in front of the seat I'm sitting in. Cut to few seconds later, I thought the harassment was over, but alas, the next set of late comers walk in, and this own is even worse, they keep moving from one side to another to find out their seats. By now, I had given up.
Patience test no 2, test code #@$&-02.Few minutes later.
Group of girls(Type A) in the back row, phone rings, one girl starts speaking(louder than Constantine!) and for a few seconds I thought I was in the wrong place. Just when I was trying hard to listen to the dialogues past the howls and claps of the front benchers, these girls right behind me talk one after another to some bloody person on the phone. I was so wanting to stand up and shout 'girls can't u shut up atleast while ur in the cinema hall'.
Few minutes later
I got used to all the tortures(from both Type A and B), seemed like I was in the wrong place, people were talking all the time and were silent only when there was some action on screen.Nevertheless, It was a great movie and nobody could stop me from enjoying it.
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Movie review
''Constantine'' is the big screen adaptation of the cult comic book ''Hellblazer''. It has a huge fan following, the comic book is dark, creepy and funny.And so is the movie!!
Story
John Constantine(Keanu Reeves) is a Roman catholic, in their religion committing suicide will take them straight to hell. Constantine has the curse(/gift) of being able to see angels and demons (known as half-breeds). Early in his life he was not able to comprehend what he was seeing and could not live with it. So he commits suicide because of his torturous visions.According to his religion he goes to hell, but he is resurrected against his will. Now he is on earth trying to earn his way into heaven.Hence the tag line 'Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him.'
Constantine's job is to kick the half-breeds who have breached the rules, back to hell. The rule is no angel or demon can directly interact with humans, but can influence their thoughts into doing things. Constantine kicks all the badass back to hell, hoping that doing this he might attain redemption and get a chance to go to heaven. However, since his acts have a motive and since he is not selfless he is never really welcomed in heaven. Meanwhile Angela(Rachel Weisz) is a detective trying to find out why her twin sister committed suicide. Her search leads her to Constantine and she asks him for his help.In the same time a sinister plan by the son of Satan to take over the world (make it hell!).How Constantine, his sidekick and Angela save the earth forms the rest of the story. In the course of their war against evil, we get to meet the androgynous angel Gabriel and the Satan himself!
What worked.
Lot of things work for the movie, it is really a cool supernatural-horror-thriller! A lot of the sequences in the movie just stun you, the opening sequence(the crash!), the exorcism, the fight with the demon on the road and many many more. Be prepared to get thrilled.
Special Effects in the movie is the best we have seen in a long long time.All the demons (especially the one made of insects,cockroaches, snakes etc), hell itself are just done to perfection. The action is very real and stunning.
Since it is an adaptation, they have pretty much stuck to the comic book. Baring the fact that they turned Constantine from British to American.Direction however is first rate, this is the directorial debut of Francis Lawrence. Trust me, this fellow has a fantastic vision, how else can one make demons and hell so believeable. I will add this guy to my watchlist. He sure has a lot of stuff.
Acting is pretty OK, for a comic book adaptation and that too Hellblazer, we don't need Oscar worthy performances, we just need cool ones. Keanu Reeves is definitely cool (is however indistinguishable from his role as Neo).Rachael Waiz is very good and so are the others.
what didn't work
For me pretty much everything was OK. A lot of the critics however have torn the movie apart. Treat it as a comic book adaptation and you will definitely find nothing to fault.
The ending leaves it open for sequels, that is not much of a surprise.
Bottomline
The movie is one hell of a ride, literally.It is one of the most visually stunning movies ever made.One has to watch it in theatres to really experience this movie. However, be forewarned that this is a dark, supernatural-horror-thriller, not a regular Hollywood blockbuster.
the enigma
