Constantine (film)

Constantine
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Produced by	Gilbert Adler Michael Aguilar
Written by	Kevin Brodbin (Screenplay and story) Frank Cappello (Screenplay)
Starring	Keanu Reeves Rachel Weisz Shia LaBeouf Tilda Swinton Pruitt Taylor Vince Djimon Hounsou Gavin Rossdale Peter Stormare
Music by	Klaus Badelt Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Editing by	Wayne Wahrman
Studio	Warner Bros. Village Roadshow Pictures Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG. The Donners' Company Batfilm Productions Weed Road Pictures 3 Art Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	February 8, 2005 (2005-02-08) (Hong Kong) February 18, 2005 (2005-02-18) (United States)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Gross revenue	$230,884,728

Constantine is a 2005 action/fantasy/thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton and Djimon Hounsou. The film is 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.

Plot

Set in Los Angeles, California, John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a chain-smoking cynic, has the ability to see half-angels’ and half-demons’ true forms. He seeks salvation from eternal damnation in Hell for a suicide attempt in his youth, by sending half-demons back to Hell with his sidekick Chas (Shia LaBeouf). However, full demons have begun attempting to cross over. Disturbed by this information and with his death looming over him due to lung cancer, Constantine seeks an audience with the androgynous half-breed angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton). Gabriel tells him that as he does his exorcisms to escape Hell and for his own benefit, they are vain acts that won’t spare him. Departing, he encounters LAPD officer Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), investigating the death of her twin sister Isabel, who leapt from the roof of the mental hospital she was committed to. Constantine is attacked by a true demon, but kills it. Upon attempting to speak with former witch-doctor turned owner of a nightclub that serves as neutral ground for half-breeds; Papa Midnite (Djimon Honsou) about this attack, he is rebuffed and dismissed. Constantine, with the help of his associates Beeman (Max Baker), Hennessy (Pruitt Taylor Vince), and Chas, begins investigating the situation.

Constantine tells Angela that God and Lucifer have a standing wager for the souls of all mankind. The rule for this wager is that angels and demons cannot manifest on Earth (however, half-breeds can), but can possess and influence humans. Afterwards, Constantine finds out Isabel was psychic, and her visions lead to her institutionalization. With the help of Hennessy and Beeman, Constantine finds out that the demons are working for Mammon, Lucifer’s son, who wishes to create his own kingdom on Earth. In order for Mammon to come to Earth, he needs divine assistance and a powerful psychic, for which reason half-demon Balthazar (Gavin Rossdale) locates Isabel and Angela. Angela reveals that she possessed the same gift but denied hers to the point that it became inactive. At her request, Constantine reawakens it, by leading her to a death experience (drowning her in the bathtub) so she can see demons’ and angels’ true forms.

Constantine attacks and interrogates Balthazar, who reveals that Mammon has obtained the Spear of Destiny, which has the blood of Jesus Christ encrusted on it. Angela is kidnapped to be used as the portal for Mammon’s entrance to Earth. Constantine storms Midnite’s club and after a brief scuffle, Midnite allows Constantine access to “the chair,” an old electric chair from Sing Sing Prison that had killed over 200 people. It grants Constantine visions which show him that the Spear was discovered in Mexico and that it is already in L.A. Constantine and Chas go to Isabel’s hospital, where Mammon is conducting the ritual to rise in Angela’s body. After exorcising numerous half-breed demons, the pair interrupt the ritual and attempt to exorcise Mammon from Angela, costing Chas his life at the hands of an invisible party.

Using sigils on his arms, John forces the party, Gabriel, to reveal itself, but Constantine is promptly subdued. Gabriel resents God’s favoritism towards humanity, and the forgiveness they are readily given. Gabriel believes that by bringing Hell to Earth, humans can become worthy of God’s love through repentance and faith. Gabriel throws Constantine from the room and begins to release Mammon. As Gabriel goes to stab Angela with the Spear and release Mammon, Constantine slits his wrists. Time stops and Lucifer (Peter Stormare), who hates Constantine enough to collect his soul personally, arrives. Constantine tells Lucifer about Mammon’s plan and Lucifer sends Mammon back to Hell to keep Mammon from conquering Earth before him. Gabriel attempts to smite Lucifer, but is relieved of his holy powers and defeated.

In return for helping Lucifer, Constantine is owed a favour, but rather than asking for an 'extension' and be restored to life, he instead asks that Isabel be allowed to go to Heaven. Lucifer happily obliges, but, as he begins to drag Constantine to Hell, Heaven appears before him; by sacrificing himself for Isabel when there was clearly nothing in it for him, Constantine has proven himself worthy to enter Heaven. Infuriated, Lucifer heals Constantine’s wounds and cures him of his cancer so that Constantine would have a second chance to 'prove that [he] truly belongs in Hell'. Constantine retrieves the Spear and departs with Angela, but not before a now-human Gabriel attempts to goad Constantine into committing murder, only for Constantine to simply respond by punching the now-fallen angel, introducing a part of humanity: physical pain. Gabriel, defeated, nevertheless delighted in Constantine's choosing "the higher path", saying, "You could have shot me, John...look how well you're doing!"

Constantine then gives the Spear to Angela and instructs her to hide it where no one can find it. The final shot before the credits reveals that Constantine has switched from cigarettes to gum.

After the credits, Constantine visits Chas’ grave and sees Chas rise into Heaven as an angel.

Cast

(Left-to-Right) Constantine, Midnite, and Chas standing outside of Papa Midnite’s bar.

• Keanu Reeves as John Constantine
• Rachel Weisz as Detective Angela Dodson & Isabel Dodson
• Shia LaBeouf as Chas Kramer
• Djimon Hounsou as Papa Midnite
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Father Hennessy
• Gavin Rossdale as Balthazar
• Tilda Swinton as Gabriel
• Peter Stormare as Lucifer
• Jose Zuniga as Detective Weiss
• Francis Guinan as Father Garret
• Nicholas Downs as Church Attendant
• Larry Cedar as Vermin Man
• Max Baker as Beeman
• Jesse Ramirez as Scavenger
• Matthew McGrory as Demon
• Michelle Monaghan as Ellie

Trivia

• The "Spear of Destiny" prop is the same one as used in Hellboy.
• Ellie, who was a demon Constantine dealt with early on, was almost completely cut from the film. Director Francis Lawrence stated that she was left on the cutting room floor because he wanted Constantine to be completely alone when he meets Angela. Ellie was played by Michelle Monaghan. Her scenes can be seen in the deleted scenes section of the DVD.
• Keanu Reeves bought the Holy Shotgun prop and gave it to director Francis Lawrence as a gift.
• The score credit in the film was originally only Brian Tyler, but Klaus Badelt was brought in by producers late in post-production to help enhance the comedic aspects of the film. Tyler and Badelt share a dual credit in composing the score.
• The language heard from the demon-possessed girl from the early part of the film is Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines; "Papatayin natin sila" which simply means "We are going to kill them."

Production

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 doing so as was seen 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]

Hell

Hell, as it is depicted within the film

Hell is depicted in the film as a place which appears to have been struck by a nuclear bomb. According to the DVD commentary, it was indeed based on old nuclear test in which anything in the path of the ensuing shock wave was immediately disintegrated. As of such, the landscape was left crumbling with a constant hue of orange in the sky and immensely strong winds over the land. According to the novel^[7] which was released alongside the film, the buildings were lined with blood instead of mortar and the souls of the damned had been crushed in ways that made up the very foundations and building materials of the buildings. In other areas, demons would feast on the souls of the damned in large groups (as is depicted in the film where a great deal of souls are being desecrated by attacking soldier demons).

The book^[7] also describes how the landscape of hell is a mirror of that of the physical plane: “If you died in Los Angeles, you went to Hell Los Angeles. If you died in New York, you went to Hell New York.” According to Constantine, time in Hell also passes with immense relativity to that of time in the physical plane. While speaking with Angela on his time in Hell immediately after his suicide, he claimed that, "...I was officially dead for only two minutes; but when you cross over, time stops. Take it from me, two minutes in Hell is a lifetime." This was visibly observed towards the end of the film after John’s second suicide.

In an interview with Horror.com, Constantine director Francis Lawrence explained that he based Hell on the present geography: "Hell would sort of be based on the geography of what's around us now."^[8] When asked about the idea of the never-ending wind-storms, he had this to say:

In the original script, Hell was imagined as a dark void with a floor covered with oil.^[9] Lucifer is portrayed with feet and ankles covered in oil in the theatrical release.

Heaven

Heaven also appears to be a mirror of the physical plane. As seen at the end of the film, Heaven also features the Los Angeles geography, as Hell did, but the city is intermixed with large clouds and a bright, golden sun illuminating the entire city,

Soundtrack

Constantine: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack by Hollywood Studio Symphony
Released	February 15, 2005
Genre	Film score Soundtrack
Length	51:47
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Professional reviews
Allmusic link

Constantine: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a 2005 soundtrack album from the film, Constantine. The soundtrack is a orchestral compilation of songs in the film, performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony and composed by Brian Tyler and Klaus Badelt. Notably absent from the soundtrack is “Passive,” a song by A Perfect Circle which was released in conjunction with the film. The song can be heard during Constantine’s walk through Midnite’s bar. Its music video features significant imagery from the film. Another notable song missing from the album is “Take Five,” a song by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. The song can be heard when John Constantine puts on the record just prior to Beeman's first appearance in the film. The soundtrack was panned by Allmusic who referred to it as “clichéd and religiously formulaic.”

Track listing

1. Destiny (2:00)
2. The Crossover (2:42)
3. Meet John Constantine (2:39)
4. Confession (2:32)
5. Deo et Patri (1:16)
6. Counterweight (2:47)
7. Into the Light (2:54)
8. I Left Her Alone (1:40)
9. Resurrection (2:04)
10. Circle of Hell (5:38)
11. Last Rites (1:55)
12. Encountering a Twin (1:06)
13. Flight to Ravenscar (0:52)
14. Humanity (2:58)
15. John (1:31)
16. Someone Was Here (1:44)
17. Hell Freeway (2:43)
18. Ether Surfing (1:13)
19. Balance (2:26)
20. Absentee Landlords (1:35)
21. John’s Solitude (1:25)
22. Lucifer (1:56)
23. Rooftop (1:18)
24. Constantine End Titles (2:39)

Box office, proposed sequel & video game

Constantine earned over $230 million in worldwide box office receipts. A video game adaption of the film was also produced.

Warner Home Video announced that the film was to be released on HD DVD on March 28, 2006.^[10] 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.

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.^[11][12][13] On March 22, 2008, Reeves stated he would not be willing to participate in a sequel of the movie.^[14] However, months later, he directly contradicted this statement in another interview prior to the December 2008 release of The Day the Earth Stood Still.^[15] Constantine 2 holds a tentative release date of 2012^[16].

References

External links

• Official website
• 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