CONSTANTINE REVIEW!! (EXCLUSIVE SERIES DC SLATE)
- Matt Palmer
- Apr 11, 2023
- 3 min read
Initial release date: February 18, 2005
Studios: Warner Bros/ Village Roadshow Pictures
Tagline: Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him.
Plot: As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine has literally been to hell and back - and he knows that when he dies, he's got a one way ticket to Satan's realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God's stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson investigate her identical twin's apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces.
Cast
Keanu Reeves - John Constantine
Rachel Weisz - Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson
Shia LaBeouf - Chas
Djimon Hounsou - Midnite
Max Baker - Beeman
Pruitt Taylor Vince - Father Hennessy
Gavin Rossdale - Balthazar
Tilda Swinton - Gabriel
Peter Stormane - Satan
Jose Zuniga - Detective Weiss
Writer(s): Kevin Brodbein (Mindhunters; The Siege of Jadotville)
Frank A. Cappello
Jamie Delono/Garth Ennis (comic book 'Hellblazer')
Director: Francis Lawrence (Red Sparrow; Hunger Games sequels)
Rated R for violence and demonic images (121 minutes)
The other day I finally had the chance to take a look at the 2005 DC movie Constantine. It had always been on my radar over the years, but never got around to it. So, once I saw that I was streaming on HBO Max, I finally checked it out.
Constantine is a supernatural driven DC movie that does deliver some decent scares and a really cool premise. And, as usual, Keanu Reeves kicks ass as the main character! The opening sequence of John Constantine exorcising a demon out of a girl is an awesome start for the movie and shows what the character can do.
Surely this isn't the greatest comic book movie adaptation out there, yet it's pretty solid. The CGI did look a little "meh" at times and a few visual effects shots didn't quite age well. But, that won't affect the fun you will have watching this movie. The scenes that are set in Hell though are visually awesome.
If you enjoyed the Hellblazer comics from years ago, then you might enjoy this movie if you haven't already seen it! Maybe down the road we'll see John Constantine on the big screen again! Constantine is available to stream on HBO Max!
Here are some interesting tidbits for Constantine:
The character of John Constantine was originally created by Alan Moore during his run on DC Comics' Swamp Thing. However, following his negative experience with From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Moore decided to reject all money and credit from Hollywood on any adaptations of his work. Thus, he gave all the money he would've gotten to the artist who drew the character with him, and rejected his own "created by" credit from the film.
The look of Hell was based on old footage of nuclear tests, specifically the sudden shock-wave immediately after the blast that disintegrated anything in its path, hence the crumbling landscape.
The "Spear of Destiny" prop is the same one as used in 2004s Hellboy.
The original title, Hellblazer, was changed because it was too similar to Hellboy. The films were scheduled to be released within a short space of time between them, and it was decided that having such similar titles would hurt the box office sales. Therefore Hellblazer was changed to Constantine.
In this adaptation of Constantine, he is destined to go to hell because he attempted to commit suicide. In the comic book, he is sent to hell due to summoning a demon into his body, the demon rebels against Constantine's control and drags a little girl back with him to hell.
The character of John Constantine was introduced by Alan Moore in The Saga of Swamp Thing #37, released in June 1985. In 1988, the character was given his own comic book title, published by DC Comics.
The movie opened in 3,0006 theaters in the US on February 18, 2005, earning $29.8 million in its opening weekend and ranking 2nd behind Hitch's 2nd weekend. At the end, it grossed $76 million domestic, and $154.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $230.9 million, against a production budget of $70 - 100 million.
After many years of rumors, in September 2022, Deadline reported that WB will develop a sequel.
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