Great to be back in New York, albeit only for a few days, I got out of the Syracuse snow, which I hear hasn't stopped. Anyway, went to see Constantine last night with the crew. I felt the need to post a review and some comments. Overall I think the movie was decent. Being somewhat of a HellBlazer fan, the thing that annoyed me most was that they Americanized John Constantine, blasphemy I tell you. After the first or second scene though, Keanu was playing the part really well, so I was less annoyed about the Americanization.
Overall the acting was pretty damn good I must say. I was surprised to see some people in the movie, most notably Gavin Rossdale as Balthazar and Shia Lebouf. I think it might have been a good idea to consider Gavin for the part of John, but what's done is done. Shia Lebouf also plays his part really well. For those unfamiliar with Shia Lebouf, he was a pre-teen star doing Disney Channel shows and movies. I had always said he had talent, nonetheless, and last night proved that to me. He was pretty damn good. I was also surprised to see Rachel Weisz's performance. I've liked her acting and she was freakin awesome in Confidence as well, and she did not disappoint this time.
So the acting was really really good. What was bad about the movie? For starters, the characters were botched a bit. I think they should have spent more time on character development, it would have suited them well. Second, they played with the plot obviously and changed some things and added other. I don't want to mention them here, because I don't want to ruin the movie for others.
My review in a sentence: Really good acting and cinematography saves what could have been a better developed screenplay. The effects kicked ass too. Ok, I lied. Two sentences. I would still suggest that anyone who liked HellBlazer, likes comic book films and just Film Noir in general go watch it. I think people who are unfamiliar with the original HellBlazer story will give it a higher rating than my B-.
P.S. I think the best character in the whole movie was Papa Midnight. It was superb.
