Constantine is a good film. I did not see it until 2018, and it got a little overhyped to me by Twitter so my expectations were not met. I finally gave it another go in 2022, and yes, I can confirm it is quite good. Give the people what they want (a sequel to Constantine). Anyway, these were my five favorite things about the movie.
1. Keanu!
Keanu chain smoking, being grumpy, and killing demons is an extremely effectively setup for film success. The grumpy part in particular is a bit of a diversion from what may think of when it comes to Keanu’s image. There is an inherent optimism to Keanu that a better world is possible in either small or large ways. That is buried deep beneath the surface here, but works equally well that the character John Constantine has suppress any sense of “hope” with all of his effort.
2. Rachel Weisz
As she demonstrated early on in The Mummy films, Rachel Weisz is a tremendous asset in “genre” pictures. She treats them straight just as she would with more “prestigious” fair and as a result she brings an incredible amount of credibility to a movie like Constantine.
3. The Tinder Swindler Tilda Swinton!
What inspired casting to make Tilda Swinton to be the Archangel Gabriel! Props to the person who came up with that. Swinton was thankfully not killed off but was instead left as a fallen angel. If a sequel happens, they would be wise to bring Swinton back to cause mayhem for John.
4. John Constantine is basically James Bond
Okay, obviously, Constantine is not the only movie to use some vague similarity structures to James Bond, but it was extra charming how it worked here! Constantine is also basically a secret agent trying to navigate a cold war only it’s between Heaven and Hell! He even has a Q who gets him cool weapons like DRAGON’S BREATH! This is a very effective setup for a movie.
5. Peter Stormare. He looks insane…
The Reel World 