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.