After a brief hiatus, I'm back! Sadly Valentine's Day almost always means cheesy date movies at the cinemas, and so I was forced to skip my weekly trip to the theatre (Hitch looked kinda cute, but just didn't strike me as something I wanted to spend money to go see). Not that I necessarily have anything against romantic comedies, mind you, but they're just as funny at home as they are in the theatre, and they're a lot cheaper to rent. But thankfully the Hallmark-sponsored holiday is behind us, and we can return to having good movies coming out.
And speaking of good movies (and in this case, surprisingly good movies), on Sunday I went and saw Constantine. This is based on the DC comic Hellblazer, but it's hardly what you'd call a "comic book movie". Of course, this is because the original comic is more of a horror comic, and not a superhero comic, and so we've got no one running around in tights and a cape. It really doesn't compare to any other movies based on comic books, not even Hellboy (there are some similarities, but Hellboy is still much more obviously a comic book based film). The closest movie to it that comes to mind would be The Prophecy, starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, and Eric Stoltz (a fantastic film -- this is the first time I remember seeing Viggo Mortensen, and his portrayal of Lucifer is so incredibly memorable. If you're a fan of his at all, this is a must-see movie, even though he only has a fairly small part in it).
If you're a fan of religious, angels and devils types of movies like The Prophecy, you'll probably enjoy this movie (this is a big reason why I liked it). The story is well done, and the acting is very well done. Keanu Reeves does a surprisingly good job. Not that I have anything against him as an actor (unlike a number of people, movie critics especially). I think he's done a pretty good job in most of the movies I've seen him in. I just didn't think he'd be able to pull off the burnt-out, bitter, cynical character that is John Constantine. But to my surprise he did a passable job of it. The rest of the cast were just as good. Rachel Weisz was solid like always, and Shia LaBeouf was great as Constantine's apprentice. One of my favorite characters was Papa Midnite, played to perfection by Djimon Hounsou. Also noteworthy was Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of the band Bush) playing the demon Balthazar.
So all in all, I'd probably give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. Not nesarrily a movie I'd rush out and see again, but definitely worth seeing at the theatre (and I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD). I'm also excited to note that the movie did really well at the theatres, and Warner Bros. is already greenlighting a sequel to it! But this excites me not so much for the sequel itself, but because this should hopefully pave the way for other movies of this type to finally get to the theatres. At the top of this list would be Garth Ennis' Preacher (he also wrote on Hellblazer), and Neil Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living. Both have been in development hell for a while now, so it would be great if the success of Constantine motivates the studios to starting pushing forward with them.
And that's about it for this installment. Coming up this weekend we have Wes Craven's new movie Cursed (starring the lovely and talented Christina Ricci - so going to have to see this one!), and the Tommy Lee Jones comedy Man of the House (which I'm still undecided about). And of course next weekend we get The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and the current love of my life (I wish!), Keira Knightley! Definitely looking forward to that (it looks so creepy). I have to say it again -- it is so cool that creepy horror movies (as opposed to gory, overly-violent horror movies) are seeing a sudden popularity. I just can't get enough of these types of movies!
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