Constantine
Promotional poster for Constantine
Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Produced by	Gilbert Adler Michael Aguilar
Written by	Comic Book: Alan Moore Jamie Delano Garth Ennis Screenplay: Kevin Brodbin Frank Cappello
Starring	Keanu Reeves Rachel Weisz Shia LaBeouf Tilda Swinton Pruitt Taylor Vince Djimon Hounsou Gavin Rossdale Peter Stormare
Music by	Klaus Badelt Brian Tyler
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	February 18, 2005 (2005--)
Running time	121 min.
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Constantine is a 2005 American film loosely based on the Hellblazer comic book, with some plot elements being taken from the "Dangerous Habits" arc (issues #41-46). It was released on February 8, 2005 in Hong Kong, and on February 18, 2005 in the U.S. and Canada.

Plot

The film opens in a ruin in Mexico, where a young man finds the Spear of Destiny wrapped in a Nazi flag. This historical artifact, incidentally, was an obsession of Adolf Hitler's and allegedly was the same spearpoint used by Roman soldier Longinus to pierce the side of Christ on the Cross. The character seizes the spearpoint and becomes possessed, heading for Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles we see John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) perform an exorcism on a teenage Filipino girl; although he is successful, he is unnerved by the boldness of the demon, who attempted to leave the girl's body to cross over into humankind's realm. After meeting a detective named Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), who wants to know if her twin sister committed suicide, John uncovers a plot by Mammon, the son of Satan, to betray his father and claim dominion over Earth immediately.

There are many worlds, according to Constantine, of which Earth is only one; it is a neutral place between Heaven and Hell. Apparently, God and Satan wagered on which can win the most souls among humans. Eschewing direct intervention as part of the bet, angels and demons cannot exist in the Earth plane; Instead, they interfere with humans by using what John refers to as "half-breeds," not fully angelic or demonic in form — though the movie gives no indication as to whether they are actually half-human in any meaningful sense. Some humans are able to see the half-breeds that walk among them. Having lived with this ability since birth, Constantine was institutionalized as an adolescent and eventually committed suicide to escape the torment of seeing them but not being believed. Though resuscitated by doctors, he was officially dead for two minutes, which he spent in Hell. Unfortunately for the young Constantine, time moves at an incredibly slow speed in the underworld, compared to Earth. ("Take it from me, two minutes in Hell is a lifetime.")

His "successful" suicide, which is considered a mortal sin in the eyes of God, has condemned him to Hell upon his eventual death. To escape this fate, he has spent the latter part of his life trying to win back God's favor by battling the forces of Hell, though his time on Earth is brief; Constantine has smoked 30 cigarettes a day since he was 15, and is now dying of lung cancer. Because of the number of demons he has slain, Constantine knows that Satan harbors a specific, personal grudge against him, even though he's destined for Hell. Characters repeatedly express the sentiment that he is the only soul that Satan will leave Hell to reap personally. Constantine's time is mostly spent destroying — permanently 'deporting' them back to Hell — demons who break the "rules" of the game.

Investigating the apparent suicide of Isabel (Rachel Weisz), another seer like Constantine, at the instigation of her identical twin Angela, Constantine discovers Mammon's plot. He needs a powerful psychic to possess, and then needs God's help to be released physically, into the earthly plane. Interrogating Balthazar by threatening to give him Last Rites before destroying him, Constantine discovers how Mammon plans to get God's help — "the blood of God", found on the Spear of Destiny. By destroying the body of the psychic with the Spear while Mammon is possessing her, he would be free to walk the Earth. However, Angela, ignoring Constantine's instructions to stay in the car and forgetting to wear the amulet he has given her to protect her, is kidnapped and possessed.

Chasing after Angela, Constantine confronts a room full of half-breed demons guarding Mammon's attempted entry. His apprentice, Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf) blesses the water for the fire suppression system in another room, while Constantine, announcing that he will deport all present as violators, lights his cigarette lighter under a sprinkler, then shoots all the present, weakened half-breed demons with bullets made from melted-down crosses, destroying them. Constantine and Kramer subdue Mammon, but Chas is then killed by the Archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) for interfering in the "birth." Gabriel incapacitates Constantine and begins to summon Mammon using the Spear of Destiny.

Gabriel, angry at how humans can achieve salvation so easily (by simple repentance), wants Hell on Earth because, in her view, humans are truly noble and heroic when confronting adversity. By giving them the ultimate adversity, Gabriel thinks that mankind would become worthy of its divine gifts.

The injured Constantine takes his own life a second time in order to win an audience with Satan, whom he informs of Mammon's plot. Satan defeats Gabriel, who apparently has lost divine favor, and returns Mammon to Hell. Satan then asks what Constantine wants as reward for the information and is surprised when Constantine asks for the release of Angela's sister from Hell. Heaven consequently accepts Constantine for his selflessness. As he begins ascending towards the light, he flips off the Devil. Satan, enraged at having lost Constantine's soul, revives him and removes the cancer from his lungs so that he can live on and prove that he truly belongs in Hell. On the way out of the building, Constantine confronts Gabriel who hasn't fallen, but instead is reduced to human, ironically now meriting the same forgiveness and salvation that she earlier decried as undeserved. She urges Constantine to kill her, but instead of shooting her, Constantine just punches her in the face, introducing her to the new sensation of pain.

Constantine's fate now belongs to him, and at the end, he is seen chewing (presumably) nicotine gum, to kick off smoking.

At the end of the film's credits, Constantine visits Chas' grave, saying that he did a good job and leaves his cigarette lighter on top of the grave. When Constantine is about to leave the graveyard, Chas appears as an angel and is dressed as Gabriel was previously. Chas then flies off into the sky. Constantine then smiles to himself.

Cast

promotional poster

Differences from Hellblazer

There are a vast number of differences between the film Constantine and the Hellblazer comic books which the film is based on.

• In the comic books, John Constantine is blonde and English as opposed to the raven haired American he is shown to be in the film. The character was intentionally drawn to resemble the physical appearance of British musician Sting.

• In the comic books, Constantine is doomed to hell because of his use of magic and his attempt to murder his father. In the film Constantine is condemned to hell because of a successful suicide.

• In the film, Chas is slain by Gabriel and resurrected as an Angel. During the Hellblazer series, Chas usually doesn't get directly involved in the fighting, so stays safe.

• In the Hellblazer series, Chas is the same age as John and has black hair as opposed to the brown hair he is shown to have in the film. During the story arc that the film is loosely based on (Dangerous Habits) Chas no longer has his taxi. He sold it after losing all of his money from bad investment advice that he received from Constantine. This created a rift between the two that wasn't resolved until the end of the arc. This is in stark contrast to the film where Chas is shown to be the eager sidekick.

• During the film, Constantine frequently battles head on with demons in order to prevent hell from being created on earth. In Hellblazer Constantine's usually avoids fighting, and in the Dangerous Habits arc, his only combat with a demon was to save his recently deceased friend, Brendan, from having to go to hell.

• Gabriel is shown to be somewhat of a primary villain in the film, whereas during Dangerous Habits, Gabriel was a neutral source that Constantine turned to, to seek a cure for cancer. In the Dangerous Habits arc, Gabriel is contemptuous of humans because he believes in divine providence. In the film, Gabriel loathes humans for the fact that they are given redemption with ease. This would create a closer parallel between Christopher Walken's portrayal of the Angel Gabriel, in the film The Prophecy, than there would be with the comic book representation of the character in Hellblazer.

• In the film, Constantine is spared going to hell, because he sacrifices himself to do something noble. As a consequence, Satan could not pull Constantine down to hell. The result, was the removal of the cancer (the only thing that Satan was able to pull from Constantine). Constantine is then shown chewing gum, as an alternative to smoking. In the comic book, Constantine tricks three different devils into a bargain for his soul. When none of the demons is willing to give up their claim to his soul, they each declare war. It is realized by the demons that such a war would lead to the destruction of hell. In order to prevent this war from breaking out the triumvirate agrees to keep Constantine alive. The First Fallen (a parallel to the biblical devil, Satan) engages in torturing Constantine as payback for their previous confrontation in which Constantine tricked him into drinking Holy Water. After ripping through Constantine's ribs and lungs, he regenerates the lungs and completely heals Constantine. This is short lived however as The First Fallen then incenerates Constantine's body. Concluding the brief torture session, Constantine is reborn and flips off the triumvirate, following it up with a two day bender of cigarettes and hard alcohol.

Types of Angels & Demons

The only angels featured in the film are half-breeds, described below. Like demons, true angels are forbidden from entering the earthly plane. Unlike demons, however, angels appear to be too honest to cheat, at least in the film. Any other types of angel 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 allowed to exist in the Earth plane. They corrupt human souls, making human beings commit evil and sin, and then kill them by turning their greatest pleasure into their worst nightmare. 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 who John seemed to personally despise.
• Soldier Demons: These creatures are the tormenters of Hell. They are depicted as wretched, naked, pale, corpse-like monsters and are sometimes missing body parts. They walk upright, but are often seen running on all-fours like wild animals. As the tormenters 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. 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, until John killed them with a holy light.
• 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.

Weapons

A plethora of weapons are used or tested out by Constantine in order to kill or incapacitate various demons. These include weapons from all across religions, including a dragon's breath flamethrower (Pagan), vials of holy water from the River Jordan (Jewish), a silver cross to sanctify water and a holy cross shotgun resembling an Armsel Striker (Christian) and cups of Krishna's cow's essence (Hindu) and the sign of the holy trinity (Christian). 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 an Ancient Egyptian reference to the high pitched clicks of the sacred scarab beetle, which lives in tombs.

Box Office and Proposed sequel

Constantine earned US$229 million in worldwide box office receipts.

It was rumored that a sequel was being planned for release in 2007; however, the film failed to materialize. Reeves did not commit to the project, sometimes expressing interest and other times not. Recently, movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner has commented that a sequel (with Reeves attached) is in the works, but that Francis Lawrence would not be directing^[1]

Movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner stated in a November 18-19, 2006 interview that writers are currently developing a script for Constantine 2. She claims that Keanu Reeves is 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 will act as a producer on the sequel. The film is expected to be rated "R", similar to the first film.^[2][3][4]

Constantine has been rated R For Violence and Demonic Images by the MPAA. It also contains mild language.

Warner Home Video announced that the film was to be released on HD DVD on March 28, 2006.^[5] 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.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• This is the second time that Keanu Reeves has been involved in a film with demonic themes, the first being 1997's The Devil's Advocate, where he portrayed Kevin Lomax, the son of Satan. (A third could be suggested with Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey where the plotline centers around the duo's death and, in one part of the movie, visit hell. This however is not the basis of the film.)
• Gabriel was portrayed in the movie by actress Tilda Swinton but not as a female entity, only to signify the androgynous nature of angels.
• The possessed girl (Jhoanna Trias) uttered Tagalog words while being possessed by the devil, "Patayin natin sila" (Let's kill them), but when she woke up she talked with her mother in Mandarin Chinese. This line, ripped directly from the film, is used at the start of the 2005 remake of the song 'Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen' by Norwegian Black Metal band Dimmu Borgir. This may be a reference to supposed real-life demonic possession, where the "host" is capable of speaking non-native tongues fluently, or it may simply have been in order to draw an effect from the character.
• This movie marks the second time that Rachel Weisz and Keanu Reeves starred together in a feature film, the first being Chain Reaction in 1996.
• This movie was released on the 8th of February in Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, 8 days before its Hollywood premiere.
• The real Domino Harvey appeared as an angel seated at a table with a demon, who is affectionately biting her ear, during the first of two scenes at Papa Midnite's bar.
• A sign with the phrase "Got Faith?" is visible in the scene with the man carrying the Spear of Destiny carjacking a vehicle to get to Los Angeles.
• In biblical canon Mammon is not said to be the outright son the of the Devil, and in most classic literature, such as Paradise Lost, he is another fallen angel but is one of Satan's most trusted.
• Both Domino Harvey, who portrays an angel in the movie, and Matthew McGrory, who portrays a demon, died the same year the movie came out.

References

1. ^ CHUD News November 19, 2006.
2. ^ IESB Interview with Lauren Shula Donner November 18, 2006.
3. ^ IESB Interview with Lauren Shula Donner part 2 November 19, 2006.
4. ^ "Constantine 2 Confirmed Coming Soon", IESB.net, November 18, 2006, Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
5. ^ Business Wire. Warner Home Video Announces Titles and Release Dates for HD DVD. January 5, 2006.

See also

• The Spear of Destiny

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Constantine

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

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