Constantine - 2-disc Deluxe Edition

Rating: R

Distributor: Warner Home Video

Release Date: July 19, 2005
Review posted: July 19, 2005

Reviewed by Greg Malmborg

SYNOPSIS

Constantine wasn’t as big of a hit as expected when it released earlier this year, but looks to make some gains in the DVD market with this loaded 2-disc deluxe edition. 

Based of the popular comic book character from the Hellblazer comic series, the film follows antihero John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a surly, chain-smoking demon slayer with lung cancer, who is trying to buy his way into heaven by sending “half-breeds” (part angel/demon and human) back where they belong.  According to the film, God and the Devil made a wager on being able to sway humans to one side or the other.  They are able to send demons and angels to persuade humans as long as they go sight unseen (they can manipulate through whispers and baiting).  When they get out of place, Constantine is sent in to send them back where they came from with his arsenal of holy weaponry.  He is the only human able to see these demons and angels, this ‘gift’ has tormented him since he was little (and subjected him to horrible experiments to rid him of it) and it drove him to commit suicide where he was sent to Hell briefly.  After coming back to life, Constantine makes it his mission to get into heaven (vowing never to return to Hell) by sending as many “half-breeds” back as he can, but only a true sacrifice would get him there.

After some strange run-ins with demons trying to break free into this world, Constantine begins suspecting an evil plan is afoot.  He runs into Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), a cop investigating the death of her twin sister who supposedly committed suicide, and sees that the demons are trying to get to her for something.  Along with his apprentice Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf) and the help of his witch doctor friend Papa Midnight (Djimon Hounsou), Constantine and Angela begin a journey that will take them to the depths of hell and back again, uncovering an evil plot that could lead to the end of the world.  

CRITIQUE

At its release, Constantine received very mixed reviews and healthy but not outstanding box office.  The general feeling was that the film could have been something more and I have to agree.  Constantine takes itself too serious and this is the main problem.  This film could have been so much better if it embraced its campy, fun vibe instead of fighting it off throughout.  There are many good things about the film (interesting premise, juicy supporting roles, eerie atmospherics, interesting mythology, and some fun, entertaining scenes scattered about), but the whole thing is packaged in a too serious, too disheartened tone. 

The director, Francis Lawrence who only has music video experience, creates a wonderfully dark and sinister look for the film.  The atmosphere is so dense and brooding it creates automatic tension and fully immerses the viewer in this interesting world that Constantine inhabits.  There also some spectacularly filmed scenes such as the scene in the beginning where a car crashes into a character so suddenly and spectacularly it sets the mood right just perfectly (fun, dark, humorous) and follows that up right away with a tense, moody exorcism scene that introduces Constantine.  The beginning felt so fresh, exciting and full of potential that what follows is a bit of a letdown.  If Lawrence just kept up that same tone as in the beginning, he would have had a monster hit. 

There are so many wonderfully campy and fun moments interspersed that work so well, I just can’t understand this insistence of bringing the tone back down into the gloomy doldrums.  He goes from this monotonous, downtrodden vibe to a sudden fun scene like Constantine kicking a demons butt by pulling out a pair of cross-inflicted brass knuckles or having the angel Gabriel (tremendously campy and fun Tilda Swinton) wax on about how Constantine is just supremely screwed.  But Lawrence is a rookie and seemed to focus most of his energy on visuals, which again are terrifically done.  His use of CGI though is mixed.  The scenes in Hell look terrific (blazing, scorched landscape of fire and ash with demons lurking around every corner), as does the climatic scenes, but the demons look terrible (think The Mummy/Van Helsing).  Poorly done CGI always takes me out of a film, I’d much rather see make-up and costume used then bad CGI.

The script is absolutely all over the place.  The premise is very entertaining and the dialogue throughout the film is pleasurably dark and pulpy (Reeves has some excellent lines and Stormare as Lucifer has the real gems), but the overall plot structure and story development goes from bad to worse.  By the last act, the plot is so muddled and confusing that you lose interest and start itching for the end (never a good thing).  This was a film in need of a last act rewrite.  So much of the blame is on the story development in the screenplay (and the director’s mixed tone).

The acting almost saves the film from the mixed tone issues and muddled story.  Reeves is terrific and fascinating as Constantine, delivering his quips and one-liners with cynical charm and a dark, loner vibe.  This character is played much like that of Neo in The Matrix.  A lot of critics gave his performance flack because it was so much like his Neo character, but I think this is just the type of character that suits him perfectly and he knows it.  Nothing wrong with playing to your strengths.  Rachel Weisz is also first-rate playing Angela with conviction and yet a naïve and lovelorn charm.   She teams up nicely with Reeves, hoping to bring his Constantine out of his doldrums.

But the best performances are by the supporting cast.  Tilda Swinton brings the perfect amount of excitement and camp to her pivotal and memorable character, Gabriel the androgynous angel with a chip on his shoulder.  She livens up every scene she is in.  But even she is outshined by the off-the-wall, lunatic performance by Coen brothers’ favorite Peter Stormare as Lucifer himself.  His performance is a treasure; the only problem is he’s only on screen at the end for about 5 minutes.  I just wish they used his character more often; it would have helped the film keep that right tone throughout.  Djimon Hounsou also gives an interesting and engaging performance as the dark sorcerer Papa Midnight.  The scenes where Reeves makes his way through Midnight’s club and when they are both on screen together are some of the film’s best.

The only exception to the strong supporting cast is the absolutely annoying and ill-conceived sidekick Chas played by Shia LaBeouf.  I will never understand what would make a screenwriter or director think that putting in a humorous and goofy sidekick will work on any level whatsoever.  It’s always annoying and unnecessary, with the one exception being animated Disney films.  LaBeouf isn’t a bad actor, it’s that this character is just plain annoying.

THE VIDEO

The transfer is presented in one of the widest dimensions on DVD at 2.25:1 and the enhanced, anamorphic widescreen transfer is sharp, bright and crystal clear.  The color palette is subdued but registers strongly.  There was no visual clarity issues, no grain in the darker scenes, and no issues with edge enhancement. 

THE AUDIO

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is quite dynamic and impressive.  The surround is active throughout, which you always want in an action film, and the dialogue comes through sharp and clear.  This is a terrific audio presentation.

THE EXTRAS

The extras are almost ludicrously plentiful and, unfortunately, become repetitious (although expertly done and full of information):

Commentary by Director Francis Lawrence, producer Akiva Goldsman, and Screenwriters – This commentary track is full of funny anecdotes and fascinating tidbits, and when they do decide to get serious they provide some interesting and informative information on what went into getting this film made and making movies in general.  But since the screenwriters and the director (to a far lesser extent) are the main reasons the film didn’t reach the heights it should have and they are the ones talking, it makes it hard to listen to this without being a bit cynical.

A Perfect Circle Passive Music Video – This is the music video for the main song in the film from the band A Perfect Circle, not much to say, it’s a music video.

Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending – The deleted scenes were at least true deleted scenes.  Most were obviously cut because they added nothing (a scene with Weisz in the police station and one on her computer), were off-the-wall weird (there is one scene with Reeves who just bedded a beautiful woman who has a devil’s tail and is some sort of demon) or were just plain awful (there is one scene with some unfortunate cops blowing their heads off that is unintentionally hilarious).  There was one great scene sequence that went into much more detail on Constantine as a young man committing suicide and undergoing horrid treatment, should have stayed in the film.  The alternative ending has Constantine at the cemetery saying goodbye to a friend who becomes something else entirely.  I prefer the original ending myself but this is interesting.  

Conjuring Constantine – This is an informative and engaging 15-minute featurette, which goes into the development of the film from the origins of the comic.  Includes interviews with the filmmakers, writers/producers of the comic, and main actors (Reeves and Weisz) on capturing the essence of the comic book and general making of discussions like casting choices and director visions.  Also includes behind the scenes footage and images out of the comics.

The Production from Hell Documentary Gallery – There are 3 sections that make up about 20 total minutes, one section called Director’s Confessional is an interview with rookie director Francis Lawrence, going into his personal journey through making the film.  Interesting to listen to a brand new director share the experience of his first film, like his nerves in dealing with the actors and the studio.  The next section is called Collision with Evil which goes into what the opening of the film was really going to be (actually sounded like an even better opening) if there were not so many budget constraints.  It also goes into the makings of that brilliantly funny and horrific car crash scene in the beginning of the film.  Interesting extra with interviews from the director and everyone on the crew involved in that car crash scene.  The last section called Holy Relics goes into the film’s use of religious artifacts and props with the director and prop guy.  Thankfully brief.

Imagining the Underworld Documentary Gallery – There are another 4 sections here which amount to almost 30 minutes.  The first section called Hellscape goes into the director’s recreation of Hell in the film and how he achieved his amazing vision with interviews with the director and crew that worked on it.  Since the Hell scenes in the film were so visually arresting, I found this extra interesting and pointed in how a director goes from conception to really getting it to work.  The next section called Visualizing Vermin is much like the previous section except that it goes into the creation of one of the demons.  There are interviews with the artists who say things like “I was like…dude!”.  Unintentionally funny extra about the creation of a unrealistic looking demon.  The next section called Warrior Wings is again just like the previous two sections but this one goes into the creation of the wings for Gabriel.  The wings were very impressively done; they look amazingly realistic in the film.  Interesting how these guys really nailed some of this CGI and then dropped the ball on others.  And the last section is called Unholy Abduction that goes into the awesome sequence where Angela gets abducted and goes flying through the walls out into the air and carried away by a demon.  Nice extra on the great sequence in the film that the crew goes into detail on how they did it.  Also includes interviews and behind the scenes footage with Weisz.

Constantine Cosmology – This featurette goes into the mythology in the film with expert/author Phil Cousineau who discusses the creation of mythic stories in culture, stories about heroes and adventures, and how Constantine fits the mold.  This felt like an unnecessary extra that was just added on as to fill out this second disc.  Not a particularly good extra.

Foresight: The Power of Previsualization – This is an interesting featurette that shows CGI-to-storyboard comparisons with commentary from the director.  Lawrence actually did a fantastic job of making these images a reality (with the exception of the cheesy looking demons).

There is also a comic book provided, which is a reprint of a Hellblazer comic, as well as a Hellblazer short story.  It’s interesting how different Constantine looks from the comic to the film (he’s blonde and scruffy in the comic) and how much differently the comic reads then the film really plays out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Constantine could have (and should have) been much better.  The tone of the film is mixed, awkwardly going back and forth between campy fun and depressed seriousness (the director would have been served to keep it entertaining and campy) and the story is muddled (especially towards the end).  But there is definitely some fun to be had, the performances are fun and entertaining, there are some terrifically conceived and executed scenes, and the premise and main character are interesting and engaging.  It all adds up to a decidedly mixed bag that could have been something great.

VERDICT: A MIXED BAG - RENT IT

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