Constantine constantine summary-
John Constantine has been to hell and back.
Born with a gift he didn't want, the ability to clearly recognize the half-breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human skin, Constantine (KEANU REEVES) was driven to take his own life to escape the tormenting clarity of his vision. But he failed. Resuscitated against his will, he found himself cast back into the land of the living. Now, marked as an attempted suicide with a temporary lease on life, he patrols the earthly border between heaven and hell, hoping in vain to earn his way to salvation by sending the devil's foot soldiers back to the depths.
But Constantine is no saint. Disillusioned by the world around him and at odds with the one beyond, he's a hard-drinking, hard-living bitter hero who scorns the very idea of heroism. Constantine will fight to save your soul but he doesn't want your admiration or your thanks - and certainly not your sympathy.
All he wants is a reprieve.
When a desperate but skeptical police detective (RACHEL WEISZ as Angela Dodson) enlists his help in solving the mysterious death of her beloved twin sister (also played by Weisz), their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.
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Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Donners' Company / Batfilm Productions / Weed Road Pictures / 3 Arts Entertainment Production: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz star in Constantine , also starring Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale and Peter Stormare. Directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, story by Kevin Brodbin, Constantine is based on characters from the DC Comics/Vertigo Hellblazer Graphic Novels and is produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, Benjamin Melniker, Michael Uslan, Erwin Stoff, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Akiva Goldsman. Executive producers are Gilbert Adler and Michael Aguilar. Philippe Rousselot, A.F.C./A.S.C., is the director of photography; Naomi Shohan, the production designer; and Wayne Wahrman, A.C.E., the editor. Music is by Brian Tyler and Klaus Badelt.
Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine in Warner Bros. Pictures' Constantine, the big screen adaptation of the Hellblazer graphic novels. The anticipated film, directed by Francis Lawrence, also stars Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton, Gavin Rossdale, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf, and Peter Stormare.
We asked Reeves if he thinks there will be a sequel. You know, my contract didn't have a second film, but myself and some of the producers and Francis Lawrence, the director, and I certainly would... because we fell in love with the guy. I fell in love with the guy, said Reeves. I had one of the best times I'd ever had working on a film working on this particular project. So, we would talk about what could we do? What happens to Constantine? He's a heroin addict in Morocco. He's got a spell, he's killing people and he's trying not to kill people so he's knocking himself out. Then Akiva Goldsman was like, 'No, he wants to stop Revelations.' So we would do these kinds of things and ultimately it is up to the audience because that would mean that the studio would have resources to go forward with it. But I would love to play Constantine again as long as I worked with the same people. I mean, definitely Francis Lawrence and Akiva Goldsman and everyone involved in this project because I could not imagine doing this with not everyone involved. But I love playing the guy.
Reeves recently starred in The Matrix trilogy, so what about a Constantine trilogy? Trilogy, why stop there? We could have 'Son of Constantine'. And I'll play him too. CGI. No, but it's a character just as how it exists in the graphic novel, so I would love to play him again. Who knows? I mean, February 18th, probably by the 30th we'll know. But also, I'm sure Francis Lawrence after this film, because he did such a remarkable job, we're not going to be able to hire that guy. He's gone. He's gone.
Constantine opens in theaters on February 18th.
constantine movie review-
Constantine, based on characters populating the DC Comics/Vertigo Hellblazer graphic novels, is one of those rare pulpy page-to-screen translations that actually gets it right.
An engrossing mix of atmospheric gothic horror and smart sci-fi that's cemented by intriguing mythology, terrific visual effects, a dry sense of humor and an ideally cast Keanu Reeves, the picture officially heralds the end of the New Year release doldrums.
Appreciative audiences should mark the occasion by creating a sizable boxoffice splash for the Warner Bros. Pictures release. Although it's probably too dark to reach the heights of an X-Men or Spider-Man, international business should be equally impressive, making a sequel definitely within the realm of possibility.
Unlike so many other first-time feature directors who made their name helming music videos, Francis Lawrence -- who created eye-catching clips for Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and Will Smith, among others -- hasn't opted for a flashy visual style at the expense of story and character.
He quickly gets down to the business of immersing the viewer in Constantine's intriguing environment -- one in which the otherworldly manifestations of heaven and hell are on the verge of being thrown out of their precarious balance right here on Earth.
Specifically speaking, that would be Los Angeles, where Reeves' John Constantine spends his tortured days and nights ensuring that balance isn't knocked out of kilter through less-than-divine intervention.
For the uninitiated, Constantine has been cursed with the lifelong ability to see the true demonic or beatific faces of the half-breeds living among us -- intermediaries who have been sent back to Earth to do the bidding of their respective commanders in chief.
An expert in demonology, Constantine has been keeping busy dispatching a disturbing influx of evil half-breeds back to hell, but his intentions are far from being heroic.
Recently diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, the chain-smoking anti-hero is really just in it for himself, hoping that with all that satanic butt-kicking, he might be able to buy his way into heaven.
But his strategy is complicated with the arrival of Angela Dodson (the always welcome Rachel Weisz), a stoical police detective whose sister has committed what appears to be suicide.
There's actually, refreshingly, a lot more plot to go around thanks to clever writing officially credited to Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, but there's the sense that producer Akiva Goldsman also made some contributions to the script, which is filled with great characters.
Among them is Tilda Swinton's gender-blurring Gabriel, Peter Stormare's self-styled Satan (in a white suit), Gavin Rossdale's slick Balthazar and Djimon Hounsou's noncommittal Midnite, whose offbeat nightclub serves as a neutral meeting ground for half-breeds of both persuasions.
But it's Reeves who, outfitted with an economy of dialogue and costume designer Louise Frogley's sleek monochromatic apparel, gets the requisite film noir look and attitude down cold.
He and Weisz, who once again projects a beguiling combination of beauty and intelligence, make for a classically cynical graphic novel couple.
Working in perfect harmony with Lawrence's organic direction, the writing and performances are the technical contributions, particularly those of cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (Big Fish), production designer Naomi Shohan (Training Day) and visual effects supervisor Michael Fink (the X-Men movies), who succeed in turning downtown Los Angeles into a convincingly hellish Hades on Earth.
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