|
By
WAYNE KLEIN
The road to Hell isn't paved
with good intentions just melting asphalt. In
"Constantine" based on the outstanding comic book
series of "Hellblazer," Keanu Reeves plays the
title character a man cursed with the ability to
see those who've crossed over from Heaven and
Hell. It seems the Earth is the battleground for
eternal souls and Satan has made it his business
to win the battle. Constantine is cursed with the
ability to see these demons and angels in our
world he's also the only person that can truly
protect humanity from the battle between Heaven
and Hell. An ancient artifact unearthed in Mexico,
the cross dressing angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton)
the twin of a Los Angeles detective (Rachel Weisz)
all somehow factor into Satan's plans for claiming
the top spot in this wild ride through Catholic
dogma. Visually arresting and intellectually
arrested, "Constantine" has more than its fair
share of thrills to make it worthwhile for fans of
"The Matrix." In fact "Constantine" plays almost
like a variation on "The Matrix."
Earth, Heaven and Hell are all reflections of each
other with the last looking like the Earth located
in the middle of a nuclear furnace. Reeves plays
Constantine as a beaten down, morbid and dark
variation on his performance from his most popular
and profitable films. Swindon gives a transcendent
performance as Gabriel while Gavin Rossdale brings
an Earthly swagger to Balthazar a representative
of the dark side. The marvelous Peter Stormare
with his over-the-top performance as Satan adds to
the intentional camp value of the film. Although
this isn't quite the serious version of
"Constantine" that many fans were expecting (the
character is English and the comic book primariy
set in England) it's a nicely done bit of
entertainment that manages to transcend many of
its flaws.
"Constantine" receives a heavenly transfer with
bright vivid colors particularly for the sequences
set in Hell and a more ethereal palette for scenes
involving Gabriel and other representatives of
God. Warner Home Video continues to set high
standards for both their digital transfers and
"Constantine" is no exception to this rule. Colors
are extremely vivid with blacks as solid as the
darkest recesses of hell. The hyperactive 5.1
soundtrack utilizes the format extremely well with
activity spread all around all the speakers and
tremendous presence. The dialog comes across with
crystal clarity and there's nice separation
between the dialog, music and sound effects, which
are plentiful.
With an alternate ending, 18 minutes of deleted
scenes and a number of strong featurettes, the
two-disc set of "Constantine" is the way to go for
fans of the film. Most folks will be satisfied
with the no frills version (which features only
the deleted scenes, alternate ending and
theatrical trailer) the four featurettes will be
worthwhile particularly when it comes to learning
about the movie magic that went into creating
Hell. We also get a reprint of "Hellblazer" # 41
with a new story in it as well.
Director Francis Lawrence, producer Akiva Goldsman
and writers Kevin Brodbin & Frank Cappello provide
an active and interesting commentary track and
imbibe it with a sense of humor and candor.
Lawrence discusses how the opening sequence for
the film was scaled down to save money ("it's
cheaper... much cheaper…"). Lawrence and Goldsman
discuss the ins and outs of making the movie
together and make a pretty good tag team when it
comes to discussing production issues.
A fascinating comic book adaptation, "Constantine"
plays like a religious variation on "The Matrix"
in some respects with religion and the afterlife
taking the place of "The Matrix" itself. Keanu
Reeves gives a surprisingly low key and much
darker performance compared to his performance in
the "Matrix" films. While it isn't a perfect film,
it's a worthwhile rental and will certainly be
worth purchasing for fans of the movie. The deluxe
2 disc set has most of the goodies and is probably
the way to go if you're interested in finding out
how the film was made. |
