Constantine

Full of biblical imagery, the latest Keanu Reeves film is a muddled jumble of supernatural spirituality | Andrew Coffin

Constantine, a new film based on the Hellblazer series of graphic novels, is full of biblical imagery. But a smoothie is also full of fruit, which doesn’t mean that the final product bears much resemblance to its ingredients. Constantine is a similarly muddled jumble of supernatural spirituality that doesn’t have the benefit of tasting like a dessert or containing a modicum of nutritional value.

That’s not to say that Constantine (rated R for violence and demonic images) is completely lacking in intriguing ideas—just that none are fleshed out or coherent enough to make the film’s explicit imagery especially palatable.

John Constantine has been to hell and back. Or so claims the movie’s tag line. Keanu Reeves plays Constantine as a disillusioned noir figure, cast once to the depths for committing suicide, only to be sent back to earth to better utilize his special gifts. Those gifts include the ability to see the devil’s minions at work in the world. When demons break the rules (God and Satan have a longstanding “bet” for the souls of men that includes restrictions on what they can do on earth), Constantine sends them back from whence they came.