I’m running out of witty banter to begin with. No, seriously – no higher powers granted me any ideas on how to introduce this, and there were no last-minute rabbits to pull out of my magic hat. I guess this is just my cross to bear. It could be worse. To any returning readers, welcome back. To any new readers, feel free to start from the beginning with this series. This review won’t disappear into smoke when you’re gone. Without any further ado, I would like to introduce my number three choice.
Number Three – Constantine (2005)
Constantine was a difficult choice. I wasn’t sure how I felt about putting a comic-book movie as a Halloween choice; although, in hindsight, a good movie is a good movie. In this era of competition between Marvel and DC films, Constantine occupies a strange space. The early-2000s superhero movies are often the subject of ridicule, and for good reason: they are usually somewhat-messy and inaccurate articulations of beloved characters that please neither new audiences nor diehard fans. This is true at the most basic of levels; however, I have had the experience of meeting a longtime fan of the character of John Constantine who harbored a secret love for the 2005 film. To this day, I don’t know if she was an outlier or if more people share this feeling.
The character of John Constantine has a complicated and often dark history. He officially originated in Swamp Thing issue 37 after being created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben. Alan Moore is most known for his work on the legendary Watchmen series, which changed the mainstream public perception of comic books and their content by challenging the idea that comics were for children, without value as a work of literature. While not all comics fit this description, Watchmen delicately balanced darkness and light with pressing political questions, beautiful color palettes, and fantastically stylized art.
Constantine himself has been a fascinating character. He is dangerous, charismatic, morally ambiguous, street-wise, a master of the occult (to a certain extent), a detriment to the health and safety of his friends, and generally a troubled man. He became so popular that he became the protagonist of a series called Hellblazer, which ended up being the longest-running title to be continually published under DC’s Vertigo Comics. He has also been featured in at least one issue of Vertigo’s The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman, which could be taken as a credit to the strength of his character. In fact, this was how I first encountered his character – in comic book form.
My first encounter with John Constantine was through NBC’s short lived Constantine series which originally aired from 2014-2015. I discovered it in 2016 and absolutely adored Matt Ryan’s portrayal of the leading man, as well as the special effects and Constantine’s oddly resilient friends. This is the most praised adaption of the character, in part due to Ryan’s portrayal and in part due to his appearance. Here he has Constantine’s signature look: a light-eyed, blonde ruffian with a beige trench coat hiding a decently-ironed dress shirt and pants combo underneath. Furthermore, although it controversially avoids Constantine’s bisexuality, the series doesn’t shy away from the horrors that haunt him or the choices he has to make, and it never reduces the pressure of the admirable, hellish foe of his own unfixable mistakes.
On the other hand, the Constantine (2005) film stars Keanu Reeves as a raven-haired version of the titular character. He wears a black trench coat and generally sports an edgier look than the scruffy one Constantine usually has. As is usual, Constantine is an exorcist who is damned to go to Hell when he dies. After a mystical artifact is stolen, he discovers that a demon is trying to travel to Earth – something that breaks the rules of a wager set between God and the Devil – and tries to seek help in stopping this threat before it can come to pass. Unfortunately, he is battling against the clock in more ways than one. He himself is dying of lung cancer, something to which the angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) will not pardon him from. Meanwhile, detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) finds ties to Constantine when investigating her twin sister Isabel’s (Weisz) suicide. Not believing that Isabel would have committed such an act, Angela asks for his help in understanding what really happened to her. After the unlikely duo enlists the help of Constantine’s other acquaintances, such as his wannabe apprentice Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf), they set out to put the culprit in check.
Even if you think you hate comic book movies, you should give this one a try. Keanu Reeves is a fantastic actor and a decent Constantine, and Rachel Weisz is no pushover either as Isabel or Angela. In fact, the whole cast is star-studded. Young Shia LaBeouf also plays a quite compelling character in Chas; however, I will admit that in terms of story it is odd that Constantine allows a teenager to follow him around in such a dangerous business. Speaking of oddities, Michelle Monaghan was also originally in the film as Constantine’s half-breed demon lover Ellie, but her role was cut from the final version in order to make Reeve’s Constantine seem more alone.
Besides the Devil (Peter Stormare), Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale) is, at the very least, an interesting antagonist throughout the work, and Papa Midnite (Djimon Hounsou) also engages in mostly-justified antagonistic behavior with Constantine. The mystery of who is illegally trying to aid a demon in crossing to earth wraps together multiple storylines with such ease that they truly feel as if they were connected from the start. Visual effects combine with the strong performances of most characters to create eerie, gory, and tragic fates for many of Constantine’s friends: one of the few traditional parts of the character that is included in the movie.
Regardless, in terms of an adaptation, the film falls apart somewhat. The reason for Constantine’s damnation is different from the traditional reason maintained throughout the comic he features in, and I have already discussed the controversial outfit choice. Ellie was a character who was actually adapted from the comics, but unfortunately she was left on the cutting room floor. Constantine isn’t as conniving and morally ambiguous as he usually is, which is one of the things that draws so many fans to him in the first place. He more firmly aligns with the “good” side of things, taking away some of the “edginess” to his character. Perhaps that is why they have dressed him in so much black – to maintain the illusion of darkness.
At the end of the day, no adaptation is perfectly true to the story, and it shouldn’t have to be. The best adaptations capture the heart of the story but stand alone as well, like the choices made in the MCU that have led to its success up to this point. Constantine was well-received (according to box office figures) but ill-fated, having been created in an era that wasn’t truly ready for an influx of comic book adaptations. Yet, even with all the changes that audiences bemoaned, the feelings of regret and longing that are common throughout stories revolving around John Constantine are very present in the film. It is difficult to say much about a mystery movie without unraveling the fun, but this mixture of the film’s heart, occult intermingling, and puzzling plot have led me to grant it my number three spot.
Indira Ramgolam is a freshman in Columbia College.