Constantine

Constantine ist ein Film, den man vielleicht beim ersten Mal nicht ganz durchblickt. Beim zweiten Mal macht er aber umso mehr Spaß. Er zieht die Zuschauer*innen in seine eigene Welt, die sich an der Grenze zwischen Wirklichkeit und Fiktion befindet. Der Film enthält ernste religiöse Fragen aus unserem Alltagsleben, er ist originell und intelligent. Mit dem ziemlich verrückten Stoff arbeitet er geschickt und mit Leichtigkeit. Die visuelle Attraktivität rutscht nicht in die Selbstzweckmäßigkeit, die Figuren sind durchgearbeitet, die Schauspieler*innen sehr solide. Der Film ist nicht für einen Mainstream-Zuschauer geeignet, es ist eher eine bemerkenswerte Kuriosität für Feinschmecker. Man könnte fast sagen – ein "Underground mit einem hohen Budget". (14.04.2005)

Forget about Max von Sydow, here comes the coolest exorcist to ever grace the screen. The digital beasts bothered me the least of all (and they are not overabundant, as others have mentioned), on the contrary, I enjoyed the intriguing plot, the overflowing charisma of the great Reeves, the beauty of my sex idol Rachel Weisz, and several visually memorable scenes. And the last twenty minutes, with a clever and witty twist and the most stylish Lucifer in years (Stormare really is the devil), make Constantine a truly outstanding film. 4 1/2 *. Oh, and don't smoke or you'll go to hell. (27.06.2005)

Nun, Constantine kann vieles sein, aber kaum eine zweite Matrix. Die visuelle Stilisierung und das Thema der Verflechtung alternativer Welten scheinen jedoch eine gute Grundlage zu sein. Lawrence' Film hat jedoch nicht annähernd die Bildgewalt des Werks der Wachowski-Brüder, und selbst die Hauptidee wird auf eine allzu verrückte, intermittierende Art und Weise vermittelt, als ob sie ihre Einfachheit verschleiern wollte. Ja, das ganze religiöse Gerede ist erträglich, verträglich und manchmal sogar interessant, aber es passt einfach nicht zu der postmodernen, geradlinigen Kraft der Matrix-Metapher. Aber das ist so ziemlich das Einzige, was ich Constantine vorwerfen würde. Ansonsten ist es in jeder Hinsicht ein sehr unterhaltsamer und interessanter Film. Ich mag Reeves' zerrissenes Konzept, obwohl es schwer ist, der dunklen Seite seines engelsgleichen Gesichts zu trauen... Aber Constantine brauchte einen Star. Die handwerkliche Verpackung, einschließlich der Effekte und des Bildmaterials, ist wirklich gut und passt gut zur Geschichte. Die letzte Abstufung und die Andeutung einer Wendung überwogen schließlich meinen Eindruck völlig auf die Seite des Guten. Ein Vier-Sterne-Spektakel mit einem hoffnungsvollen Ende. Ich bin mir nur nicht sicher, ob ein zweiter Teil Constantine gut tun würde. (02.10.2006)

A conman, a joker, a thief, a magician... Well, simply John Constantine. An Englishman from Liverpool, a blue-eyed, cynical, amoral, scruffy-faced blond who is forever shrouded in a cloud of cigarette smoke and, in a mysterious English fog, solves mysterious cases in which he relies on his wits rather than weapons to outsmart (or cheat) almost everyone, from ordinary mortals to the bigwigs of hell. None of the above, however, can be found in this movie adaptation, not even a hint of it. Not in terms of the look or behavior of the main hero, or the location, or the plot, or the action, or anything. And yet that doesn't mean Constantine is a bad movie; it’s not - it's just a bad adaptation. But damn it, of all the "CGI action comic book movies" it is, even years later, one of the best. Everything here is as it should be with a good popcorn movie; it just doesn't have anything of what a good adaptation of “Hellblazer" is supposed to contain. (01.06.2012)

Cold-blooded Reeves as a savior, who perhaps surpasses even Nea with his charisma, as a hero who is not ashamed to flick his last cigarette in his own blood, and as a tough guy who sends all demons, including Satan, somewhere nice and fast with every gesture. And all the infernal supernaturalism in the inquisitive spirit of an authentic detective story, as no one has tried in the comic genre before. (30.04.2006)

This is how comic book adaptations should be done – going your own way to the sound of fanboys gnashing their teeth. With Constantine, the filmmakers understood that comic books – not just the mainstream ones but also the overground alternative ones –  are essentially a load of overwrought clichés, posturing and superficiality with a hint of something deeper. When this idea is appropriately grasped and executed, however, it can be tremendously entertaining, covering the full spectrum from camp cringe to unironic love. The casting of Keanu Reeves is a brilliant move, turning the existentially brooding hero into the greatest sufferer in blockbuster history instead of just another dark and gritty cliché. Whenever he lights a cigarette, utters a line loaded with fatalism or makes himself unavailable, you feel like hugging him. This is greatly supported by Rachel Weisz as a cool chick with a gun in a clearing surrounded by demons. Their chemistry together works magnificently, which delightfully enhances the plot to the point that you wish you could diabolically stop time and push them into a kiss. On top of that, the refined camerawork revels in those magnificent faces in unconventional widescreen compositions and the precise production design is part of fun world-building where something is ridiculously literal and something else is simply just happening. When Reeves first flicks open his Zippo, you get a silly grin on your face, which is surpassed only by the unadulterated pleasure provided by Tilda Swinton as the ethereally haughty archangel Gabriel and Peter Stormare in the role of Satan. (24.03.2023)

The series about a guy named Constantine is not among the most famous comic book projects (at least in mass pop culture). Therefore, the vast majority of viewers got acquainted with this (anti) hero only in movie form and can appreciate the dark world of film comics and the cynical one-liners of the casual exorcist. Such viewers will feel that it is almost an "underground" film that goes against established stereotypes of film characters and stories. It is typical for this concept to compare it not with the literary original, but with the Matrix trilogy, and thanks to Keanu Reeves, Constantine is compared to Neo. Which is, of course, a mental mistake. For a minority of viewers familiar with the comics, Constantine will be rather disappointing, because, for understandable commercial reasons, the film went only halfway in portraying the comic book atmosphere. However unlikely it may seem, the comic book is even darker and more cynical, and its humor is more morbid and sarcastic than in the film. But many viewers wouldn't have stood for that. The comic book's purity of style is simply missing. However, Reeves is perfectly suited for his role and Peter Stormare is truly charismatic as the devil. In terms of comic book adaptations, it is definitely a decent film with above-average direction and quality performances. Overall impression: 65% (21.05.2007)

The wisecracking Keanu Reeves fits like a glove, and I can hardly imagine anyone else in the role of Constantine. Francis Lawrence combines interesting themes, visual diversity, and technical finesse into a rather intriguing and good-looking whole, about which you can doubt as much as you want, but you still won't be able to take your eyes off it. (28.09.2005)

great future prospect in the field of the fantasy genre, but on the whole I found the film overwrought to the point of shame and also terribly uninteresting and slow. Maybe the fact that it's based on a comic book hurt it, because comic book movies have a specific order and attitude that didn't fit this story for me at all. Or maybe it's because I'm not a true connoisseur, as POMO points out in his review, and I wasn’t able to appreciate the film enough the first time. I think the latter option is the more likely :) (06.10.2012)

Filmchallenge in Quarantäne - Lieblingsschauspielerinnen, Rachel Weisz. Und so schaute ich Constantine mit einem hervorragenden Timing, wo man derzeit über Teil zwei spekuliert. Nach dem verheißungsvollen Beginn denke ich jedoch nicht, dass es um diesen John geht, der, Keanu Reeves besser gesessen hätte. Genauso wie Rachel, die in dem entsprechenden Jahr eine andere mit einem Oscar gewürdigte Leistung brachte. Dafür war Peter Stormare als Lu wirklich fabelhaft. Wahrscheinlich habe ich mehr erwartet. (26.11.2020)