“Constantine” – My Favourite Geek Film

As a long time lover of geek films, I have a select few that I keep treasured in my heart. Films that are not only well made, but well acted and executed. While they may not follow the canon perfectly, they keep the essence of the characters and the story, allow for us to see our favourite characters in action. My personal favourite of these, a movie more on the cult side of the geek fandoms, is the 2005 film “Constantine”.

“Constantine” is a film that centers around the Hellblazer character John Constantine, a British occultist detective and con man who also dabbles in magic. This film strays from the canonical character, portrayed by American actor Keanu Reeves, by portraying him as a psychic exorcist and keeping Reeves’ natural dark hair and American accent, when John Constantine is blond and English (inspired by the lead singer of the Police, Sting).

The film follows the “Hellblazer” Comics story arc, “Dangerous Habits”. The film plot depicts a wager between God and Lucifer for mankind, piting half-human hybrids of angels and demons against one another to influence humans and their behaviour. John Constantine is damned to hell due to an attempted suicide in his teen years, leading him to fight half-breeds and demonic possession to earn a place in Heaven. He begins noticing a trend of demons attempting to cross onto the human plane of existence, but learns he is afflicted with terminal lung cancer, for which he cannot receive treatment and the angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) will not cure to give him more time.

Constantine is contact by Detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), who’s twin sister Isabel recently committed suicide by leaping from the roof of the mental hospital she was committed to. Teaming up, Angela and Constantine work to determine why Isabel committed suicide and why demons are trying to cross over. It is discovered Isabel and Angela were powerful psychics, but Angela supressed her powers out of fear of being committed like her sister. Isabel was selected to be the vessel that would be used to allow the son of Lucifer, Mammon, to take over Earth as his own kingdom, leading her to kill herself to save humanity. It becomes a race against the clock to keep Mammon from taking Angela as his new vessel and destroy the world.

This film, though canonically different, is one of my favourites due to its dark, gritty setting, supernatural and religious elements, and Keanu Reeves’ portrayal of Constantine as the cynical, sardonic, hard-nosed person he is in the comic series. While I would have appreciated keeping with Constantine’s aesthetic of punk rock, tan trench coat, Liverpool accent, and bleach blond hair, I feel Keanu Reeves’ portrayal did justice for an Americanized version of the character.

If you’re into lesser known films that take religious elements and mixed them with comics, then this film is for you.