Constantine (2005)

Title: Constantine

Release Date: February 18th, 2005

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writer: Delano, Ennis (Comic), Capello (screenplay) 

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Shia LeBeouf, Rachel Weisz

Genre: Horror, Drama

Warning: This review is going to be pretty biased, because I love this movie. No lie, I've probably seen it 10+ times. Everything about this movie is just great. Obviously, it's not like a world-renowned, award winning film, but for it's genre, this movie is beautiful.

Let's start with why it's a good movie. Well, uh, Keanu Reeves is kind of the greatest. He's got the self-deprieciating, self-loathing, but still in a weird way confident charm. This role fits him like a glove. Now, I might have gone with a different female lead, but Weisz is still good, just the two of them together is awkward at times. The graphics are like straight out of a comic-book, so freaking great. Tilda Swinton as Gabriel is epic. Like I honestly feel like they were taking a leap of faith (pun intended) with casting her as him, but it worked out well. That was probably one of the most interesting characters in the film. Oh, and Peter Stormare as Satan? Gahhhh, such perfect casting. I love Stormare and his accent with that character was golden.

My only problem with the cast? They didn't get nearly enough screen time! I would have loved to learn more about characters like Papa Midnite (Djimon Hounsou) and Chaz Kramer (Lebeouf). It would've added a lot of dimension to the whole Constantine Universe.

Really I think what made this movie great was the translation from page to film. I have never read Hellblazer (comic it was based off of), but honestly the way they presented each scene was like a comic book. It's theme was consistent and it had this great dark-comedic quality. Reeves had a ton of good (both funny and serious) one liners and dialogue that were not only memorable but pushed the story forward at a good. 

All I can say is that every time I see it, it gets better. This is one of those movies that even though it was made like 7 years ago, it's still a good watch; graphics, story, acting and all. To be completely honest, I'm still holding out for a sequel, even if I have to write and direct it in my backyard.

I give this a 8.9 out of 10 stars.

Straw Dogs (2011)

Title: Straw Dogs

Release Date: September 16, 2011

Director: Rod Lurie

Writer: Rod Lurie (based on novel by Gordon Williams)

Starring: James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgard

Genre: Thriller

Let's begin with that this in fact is a "remake" of the 1971 movie of the same title. I haven't seen the original so thats pretty much the extent of comparing I'll do between the two. All I know is that it's pretty much the same circumstances, just a different setting and time.

Okay, well, filming wise, this movie was surprisingly sharp. They definitely made some of the most vulgar/off-putting scenes, into well put together,semi enjoyable scenes. Also, it had this greenish tint to it that really made it very down-and-dirty southern type thing (set in marshlands of Mississippi).

The acting was kind of great.  Alexander Skarsgard did a amazing job playing the charming, southern guy; and Kate Bosworth and James Marsden had an obvious relaxed chemistry that made their on screen relationship believable. The script was dark and very real, I had no trouble imagining many of the conversations in real life.

One thing I didn't enjoy about this movie was the actual progression of the plot. It started steady and had a good sort of suspicious air about it, but I honestly felt there was no real climax. While I know where in the movie the climax is (or was supposed to be), I felt it fell flat. It was like winding up a jack in the box and then instead of letting it 'pop!' out super quick, it was like the top slowly opened and you could see the whole story unfold very slowly and predictably. The other thing is at times I got the feeling they were trying to relate this too much to the original. I haven't seen the 1971 'Straw Dogs', so I might be wrong, but it was just a feeling.

I think what really saved this movie, at least for me, was the realness of every scene. The characters and the scenes were raw, and to be completely honest, I think that's a hard thing to find in many of the big budget motion pictures. What killed it was that it wasn't as 'memorable' per say as I would've hoped.

I give this a 6.5 out of 10 stars.