Constantine (film)

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Constantine
Promotional poster for Constantine
Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Produced by	Gilbert Adler Michael Aguilar
Written by	Screenplay: Kevin Brodbin Frank Cappello Comic Book: Alan Moore (uncredited) Jamie Delano Garth Ennis
Starring	Keanu Reeves Rachel Weisz Shia LaBeouf Tilda Swinton Pruitt Taylor Vince Djimon Hounsou Gavin Rossdale Peter Stormare Nicholas Downs
Music by	Klaus Badelt Brian Tyler
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	February 18, 2005 (2005-02-18)
Running time	121 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100,000,000
Gross revenue	$230,884,728

Constantine is a 2005 American film based on Vertigo Comics' Hellblazer comic book, with some plot elements being taken from the "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41-46) and others - such as the inclusion of Papa Midnite - from the "Original Sins" trade paperback. It was released on February 8, 2005 in Hong Kong, and on February 18, 2005 in the U.S. and Canada.

[edit] Plot

John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a chain smoking cynic, has a special gift of being able to see angels, demons, and half-breeds. The movie opens with the discovery of the "spear of destiny" which, according to Catholics, had been the true cause of the death of Jesus. The whole of the movie is based on the concept that Satan's son Mammon wants to have his own hell on earth. Similarly, the half-breed angel Gabriel wants humans to be worthy of God's love by proving themselves truly good beings while surviving hell on earth. Gabriel thinks that its unfair for humans to attain God's forgiveness through true repentance because she believes it to be too easy. Hence, she tries to assist Mammon to come to Earth, since he needs divine assistance to do so. Now it's up to John Constantine to save the day.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Differences from Hellblazer

Constantine was written using some elements from Garth Ennis' "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41–46)^[1] and others—such as the inclusion of Papa Midnite—from the "Original Sins" trade paperback.^[2] However, the film changed several aspects of the source material, including a number of cosmetic changes to the lead character's appearance: Reeves played the role with his natural accent and hair colour^[3] whilst the original character was intentionally drawn to resemble British musician Sting and originally came from Liverpool.^[4] The film was also set in Los Angeles, with the director pointing out that the comic book wasn't exclusively set in London either.^[3]

Other differences to the character were made, such as giving him the psychic ability to see "half breeds" as they truly are. That ability, in the movie, is what caused him to attempt suicide and which led to his damnation^[5] rather than his role in summoning a demon that killed a young girl.^[6] The resolution of the lung cancer plotline in the film was also amended, with Lucifer saving the redeemed Constantine to give him a second chance at falling rather than being tricked into having no choice not to in the comic book.^[5]

The film's title was changed, from Hellblazer to Constantine to avoid confusion with the Clive Barker Hellraiser films.^[3] The comics series itself was originally to be titled Hellraiser but was also retitled to avoid confusion with the film, released the previous year.^[4]

[edit] Types of angels and demons

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The only angels and demons that are featured in this film are called half-breeds, described below. Like the demons in this film, true angels are forbidden from entering the earthly plane. Unlike demons in this film, however, angels appear to be too honest to cheat. Any other types of angel and or demon that might exist within the film's setting are thus unknown.

• Half-Breeds: These creatures are semi-angels and semi-demons, responsible for influencing mortals, but not directly interfering in their actions. They appear as normal humans, unless they come in contact with holy instruments. Because of their partly mortal nature, they are the only demons or angels allowed to exist in the Earth plane. The half-demons corrupt human souls, making human beings commit evil and sin, while the half-angels sometimes cause humans to commit heroic acts they'd otherwise not do. Being the only demons and angels permitted to be on Earth, they are John Constantine's most common targets. They become more vulnerable when exposed to blessed and holy instruments, such as holy water. Balthazar was a notable half-demon whom John seemed to personally despise.
• Soldier Demons: These creatures are the tormentors of Hell. They are depicted as wretched, naked, pale, corpse-like monsters and are missing the top portion of their heads. They walk upright, but are often seen running on all-fours like wild animals. As the tormentors of Hell, they viciously attack the souls of the damned without hesitation or remorse. Although one soldier demon possessed a little girl's body, it was banished when John exorcised it into a mirror. John has encountered them during his time in Hell.
• Scavenger Demons: These creatures bring damned souls to Hell. They appear bat-like, and fly in great numbers. Although demons are not allowed on Earth, a large number of them attacked John in a Los Angeles street.
• Vermin Demon: A creature composed of other, smaller, creatures including beetles, rats, snakes and crabs. It attacked John in the street, but was stunned by John's use of an Amityville Screech Beetle, and was then defeated. Constantine later told Papa Midnite that he was attacked by a full-fledged Demon, who like Angels, shouldn't have been in the Human World.

[edit] Weapons

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A plethora of weapons are used or tested out by Constantine in order to kill or incapacitate various demons. These include a dragon's breath flamethrower, gold brassknuckles with crosses, vials of holy water from the River Jordan, a silver cross to sanctify water, a St. Anthony's medallion, a holy cross shotgun resembling an Armsel Striker, and the sign of the Triquetra. These serve either as combat weapons or defensive amulets.

John also uses an Amityville Screech Beetle, a small insect kept inside a matchbox. When shaken, it emits a high-pitched sound which stuns demons. This is a reference to the high pitched clicks of the sacred Ancient Egyptian scarab beetle, which lives in tombs.

During the final fight of the film, when commanding Gabriel to show himself, John combines a set of tattoos on his forearms, forming a sigil, and recites the line, "Into the light, I command thee" The emblem is called the Perfect Red King of Sulfur.^[7] Used in Alchemy, sulfur is a purifying agent.

[edit] Box office and proposed sequel

Constantine earned over $230 million in worldwide box office receipts.

Movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner stated in a November 18-19, 2006 interview that writers were developing a script for Constantine 2 and that Keanu Reeves was willing to reprise his role as John Constantine. Donner also stated that Constantine 2 would be filmed in a South American country, and a different director would replace Francis Lawrence who directed the first film. Nevertheless, Lawrence would remain, acting as a producer on the sequel.^[8][9][10] On March 22, 2008, Reeves stated he would not be willing to participate in a sequel of the movie.^[11] However, months later, he directly contradicted this statement in another interview prior to the December 2008 release of The Day the Earth Stood Still.^[12]

Warner Home Video announced that the film was to be released on HD DVD on March 28, 2006.^[13] It would be one of the earliest titles to be released on that media format. However, following delays to the launch of the HD DVD format (which pushed back the release of many of the initially announced titles), Constantine eventually made its debut on HD DVD on June 6, 2006.

Warner Home Video released a Blu-ray disc version of the movie on October 14, 2008.

There was also a video game of the movie for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. The game was a third-person action/adventure game, and it did not feature Keanu Reeves' voice, but a close impersonator.

[edit] References

1. ^ Rotten, Ryan (November 2007), Update: Francis Lawrence Would Do Constantine 2, http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=3842, retrieved on 17 December 2008 
2. ^ Keanu Reeves, Djimon Hounsou and Director Francis Lawrence on "Constantine", http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aaconst072904a.htm, retrieved on 17 December 2008 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Keanu Reeves, Djimon Hounsou and Director Francis Lawrence on "Constantine" Page 2, http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aaconst072904b.htm, retrieved on 17 December 2008 
4. ^ ^{a b} Irvine, Alex (2008), "John Constantine Hellblazer", in Dougall, Alastair, The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 102–111, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5, OCLC 213309015 
5. ^ ^{a b} Goldstein, Hilary (February 28, 2005), Constantine Vs. Hellblazer, IGN, http://comics.ign.com/articles/591/591991p1.html, retrieved on 17 December 2008 
6. ^ Delano, Jamie (8 May 2007), Hellblazer: The Devil You Know, DC Comics (Vertigo), ISBN 1401212697 
7. ^ Picture
8. ^ IESB Interview with Lauren Shula Donner November 18, 2006.
9. ^ IESB Interview with Lauren Shula Donner part 2 November 19, 2006.
10. ^ "Constantine 2 Confirmed Coming Soon", IESB.net, November 18, 2006, Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
11. ^ IESB.net Interview with Keanu Reeves March 22, 2008.
12. ^ Interview for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
13. ^ Business Wire. Warner Home Video Announces Titles and Release Dates for HD DVD. January 5, 2006.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Constantine

• Official site
• Constantine at the Internet Movie Database
• Constantine at Allmovie
• Constantine at Rotten Tomatoes
• Constantine at Box Office Mojo
• Constantine 2 at the Internet Movie Database