Constantine (film)

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Constantine
Promotional poster for Constantine
Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Produced by	Gilbert Adler Michael Aguilar
Written by	Comic Book: 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
Running time	121 min.
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
IMDb profile

Constantine is a 2005 film 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.

Taglines:

Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him.
The wager between heaven and hell is on Earth.

1 Box Office
2 Plot
3 Cast
4 Trivia
5 Proposed sequel
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Box Office

Domestic: $75,976,178 (33.0%) + Foreign: $154,451,062 (67.0%) = Worldwide: $230,427,240

The film stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, a man who battles demons but is tormented by the knowledge that he is bound for Hell. The film is drastically different from the comics on which it is based.

It has been rumored that a sequel is planned for release in 2007; however, Reeves has not committed 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]

Constantine has been rated R For Violence and Demonic Images by the MPAA. It also contains mild language, but not strong.

Warner Home Video announced that the film was to be released on HD-DVD on March 28, 2006.^[1] 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.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film opens in a ruin in Mexico, where a young man finds the Spear of Destiny wrapped in a Nazi flag. He seizes the spear and becomes possessed, heading for Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles we see John Constantine perform an exorcism on a teenage 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, he 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, which have wagered on which can win the most souls among humans, despite the fact that God loves them and wants them to come to Heaven, while Satan and Mammon want to dominate the world. Some humans are able to see the demons and angels who 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 a very different speed in the underworld. ("Believe me, two minutes in hell is a lifetime.") He has spent the rest of his life trying to win back God's favor by battling the forces of Hell, though his time on Earth will be 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 he is the only soul that Satan will leave Hell to reap personally.

After incapacitating a room full of demons with the help of a fire suppression system filled with holy water, thanks to his "apprentice" Chas Kramer (Shia LaBeouf), who had begged to be allowed to accompany Constantine on an exorcism instead of simply driving him around in a taxi. The pair move on to stop Mammon from being born from Angela. Mammon is subdued, but Chas is then killed by the angel Gabriel for interfering in the "birth."

Constantine eventually takes his own life a second time in order to win an audience with Satan, whom he informs of Mammon's plot. Satan returns Mammon to Hell, in the process of which Gabriel falls. 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. 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 whether he truly belongs in Heaven or Hell, having been forgiven for his twin-suicides. His fate now belongs to him, and in the end he is seen chewing nicotine gum, to kick off smoking.

At the end of the film's credits, Constantine visit Chas' grave, saying that he did a good job. When Constantine is about to leave the graveyard, Chas appears as an angel and is dressed as Gabriel was previously, implying that he is Gabriel's replacement. Chas then flies off into the sky.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Keanu Reeves	John Constantine
Rachel Weisz	Angela Dodson / Isabel Dodson
Shia LaBeouf	Chas Kramer
Djimon Hounsou	Papa Midnite
Max Baker	Beeman
Pruitt Taylor Vince	Father Hennessy
Gavin Rossdale	Balthazar
Tilda Swinton	Gabriel
Peter Stormare	Lucifer
Nicholas Downs	Church Attendant
Jesse Ramirez	Scavenger
Larry Cedar	Vermin Man
Jhoanna Trias	Possessed Girl
Laz Alonso	Williams
Matthew McGrory	Demon (Uncredited)
Michelle Monaghan	Ellie (Scenes Cut)

[edit] Trivia

Archangel Gabriel was portrayed in the movie by actress Tilda Swinton but not as a female entity, only to signify the androgynous nature of angels.

[edit] Proposed sequel

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. The film is expected to be rated "R", similar to the first film.[2][3]