Saturday, June 28, 2014

At the Movies: 'Constantine'

John Constantine is a demon hunter.  He was born with the gift of The Sight - which he considers a curse - and he can see what most cannot.  When he was a teenager, he killed himself and was clinically dead for 2 minutes.  He went to Hell and came back, finding this made his 'gift' worse.  

So, he's trying to buy his way into Heaven - seeing he's now fighting another battle... Lung Cancer.  He's a chain smoker and has terminal cancer, which is becoming worse as the days and weeks progress.  At the same time, his sources advise him of the Blade of Destiny; and that it's been found.  The Blade of Destiny is the spearhead which pierced the side of Christ at his crucifixion.  It was lost for a long time, the spear it was attached to also lost, but the spearhead itself was still intact and a nail of the True Cross has been imbedded into the piece itself and wired in; thus making it a very Holy and powerful piece to possess.  Possessing the Blade of Destiny makes the owner indestructible - and in the wrong hands it can turn the powers of Heaven, Hell and Earth around and make the delicate balance we know and trust into Anarchy.  This would allow demons through from Hell and Angels from Heaven to fight their own battles on Earth; and this is some thing John doesn't want happening.

Then he meets Angela, whose sister has died at the local hospital.  The doctors and police are saying it was a suicide - but she believes it was something else; and she seems to be running into John everywhere... from the hospital to her local church, she wonders if he's following her.  But then, she realises he is the person she needs to track down - and being a cop herself makes that a whole lot easier.  However, once she does, she finds he's a complete arsehole to her and throws her out; not wanting to know her problems... that's until he sees what's following her around - demons.

In between the demons and angels, Satan and the underground clubs where werewolves, vampires and other underworld creatures socialise - and John Constantine and his partner in crime, Chad, introduce us to, we are taken on a huge, incredible rollercoaster ride through Constantine's world, to Hell and back as he fights demons, deals with his own nightmares and dreadful health issues and self-loathing, only to come out the other side with a great feeling of wanting more.


I had never heard of Constantine until my brother introduced the movie to me in 2005 - when 'Supernatural' started its first season and I told him about it.  When I borrowed it from Blockbuster video, I watched it three times, returned it and then bought the Platinum Double Disk Edition... and what an edition!  It has everything on it; from interviews with the directors and producers to deleted scenes to alternate endings!  What a brilliant movie!  I absolutely recommend this film to anyone who loves the supernatural kind of film; and this was the film Keanu Reeves did after he finished 'The Matrix'... so he was still lean and mean after that film to do this one!  

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