It's Tops. Review on Constantine Movie

Well, I really do love the movie! Bottom line.

The those of you who hav'nt seen it, it's about a man named Constantine who spent a couple of minutes in hell during a suicide attempt when he was a kid. However he was revived by paramedics in the nick of time and his soul came back to earth. He now can't get into heaven; and instead of reforming himself after being given another chance (most people would see it that way!) he's trying to buy his way into heaven by killing as many demons as he can find on the planet (According to the story, angels and demons co-exist on earth to help/destabilize mankind in ther own individual ways) The movie is basically a shoot em up flick with an action hero with a mean streak and a smoking fetish who does'nt care what people think or say about him. In this story, he stumbles upon a strange demonic plan involving a spear and thats all I'll say.

They say Keanu Reeves was the wrong guy to cast for this movie. I guess that's just the comic book fans talking. I guess they're so used to seeing a different guy in the comics compared to on the big screen. Now I hav'nt read any of the comics; just seen the movie-and I found it spectacular. In fact I was interested enough to go see it in the theatre earlier this year. The reason I took so long to write this review is because I rented the DVD two days ago to see it again and realised I should write a review about it.

One thing I liked about the movie was the portrayal of satan. Good work guys! The guy really looks evil and sinister without being cheesy/over the top or artsy. Exactly what I was looking for. Secondly, the scenes in hell demonstrates some artists' great visualisation skills along with some great skills from the special effects guys. It looks so real and depressing it makes you want to do anything to avoid ending up there yourself. These guys really did their homework.

Apart from Constantine and satan, I also liked the other characters - the comic-relief sidekick (there had to be one), Rachael Weicz (really beautiful in this movie), the surreal witchdoctor with his black magic and spooky antics (who really stood out), the nerdy guy who collects holy artifacts for Constantine (you can tell he's going to die later), the demon balthazar (really sinister) and the priest with special powers.

The special effects remained amazing throughout the movie (they remain the backbone in a movie like this). The scenes in hell, the fight with the insect monster (which was shot last because of budget constraints), the fight scene in the hospital towards the end. I couldn't help but notice how amazing they all looked. I just love this 'Max Payne/ Matrix/ bullet time/ corporate office with lots of flying peices of marble and glass' style. Whoever shot and directed this movie should make a lot more because the camerawork was absolutely stunning.

And I've seen very few movies that start off so well. In fact the first two scenes in the movie (the abandoned church and the tenement) which both deal with possessions really had the audience in the theatre hooked. When was the last time any of us saw something like this. I think back to all the action/ adventure movies I've seen and I can't come up with a movie that holds it's own next to this one or fits so many good scenes and characters into so short a time span.

During the DVD commentary, the producers talk about how they wanted the movie to start off with a Turkish prisoner trying to dig his way out of prison when he encounters the spear; but they eventually went in for a much cheaper option i.e abandoned church in Mexico. They also wanted Constantine to encounter a former love interest early in the movie but later decided against it as it might have proven too confusing for audiences. I feel including such a scene might have laid a good base for a sequel. But given the quality of sequels Hollywood produces, it may have been a good idea.

Send me your views guys.

p.s. I watched the movie on my new DVD player which is just a normal stand alone L.G player without any inbuilt amplifier and I don't have any extra speakers or home theatre setup or anything even though the player is 5.1 ready. Now the volume remained quite low throughout the movie despite me turning the DVD player and T.V volume on full. The DVD itself is fine. I played it at my cousins place without any volume problems. However he has an entire 7.1 home theatre setup with surround sound. Also my T.V is loud and clear and usually very sensitive to volume change. Any thoughts on how to improve my situation without buying an amplifier and a couple of speakers?