John Constantine (Reeves) is cursed (or blessed, depending upon whom you ask) with the ability to see the half-angels and half-demons in our midst. As a result of an unpardonable sin he committed in his youth, he has been indefinitely barred from entering Heaven. Constantine attempts to buy his way back into Heaven by fighting half-demons who break the rules in the war between Heaven and Hell, but to no avail. Now his time on Earth is running out. As the archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) tells him, "You're fucked."
Constantine's big chance for salvation comes when he is approached by Angela (Rachel Weisz) following the apparent suicide of her sister Isobel. Angela is sure that Isobel would never have killed herself and enlists Constantine's help to figure out what really happened. As the two piece together the clues, they realize that something much greater is at stake here than just Isobel's soul. I'm not exactly sure what that something is, as the gaping plot holes and illogical developments confused me. (But it's something big, I promise.)
Such a grandiose premise has the potential to be either incredibly cool or incredibly cheesy, and "Constantine" tends to be a cheesy film with cool moments. Stylistically, "Constantine" is actually quite polished. Some of the CGI (Computer Generated Image) scenes aren't what they could be-Hell here is just a fiery junkyard with vaguely imp-like inhabitants-but for the most part, it's fun to look at. One of my favorite moments in the film is a simple shot of Gabriel spreading his wings. This is director Francis Lawrence's first silver screen effort, but the work he's done on music videos for the likes of Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas have evidently paid off. But some moments are so fundamentally silly that they should have been avoided altogether, as in the exorcism sequence at the very beginning.
The script tries to be both dramatic and funny to fit Constantine's personality. It fails in the former endeavor but succeeds reasonably in the latter. "Constantine" is at its worst when it tries to be profound. "I don't believe in the devil," Angela declares at one point. "You should," deadpans Constantine. "He believes in you." The gravity of that moment makes it clear we're supposed to ponder those words, but neither the idea nor the way it's expressed are original enough to give us pause. On the other hand, the film has some truly comic moments. Watch how Constantine deals with a spider and you'll see what I mean.
The film's single biggest mistake is the regrettable miscasting of Reeves as John Constantine. Reeves excels in roles that require him to be impassive, subdued and a little clueless, such as that of Neo in "The Matrix." Unfortunately, Constantine is not that kind of a role. Judging by his lines and history, Constantine is supposed to be the quintessential antihero-dark and intense with a devil-may-care (ha, ha) attitude and a wicked sense of humor. Reeves tries, but his performance captures little of these qualities. With his flat performance, he throws away many a perfectly good line like so much used tissue.
It's a shame, especially given that several of the actors around him turn in fine performances. Weisz is sexy and smart as a cop with uncanny intuition, and Swinton is especially exquisite as the androgynous Gabriel. The film also features Shia LaBeouf and Djimon Hounsou as interesting but underused characters.
In the end, "Constantine" is a great rough draft but only a decent final product. It's not painful to watch, but I don't think it quite lived up to its potential. Most of its problems could have been solved with a little fine-tuning. Reeves, however, has got to go. Despite his best efforts, he's out of his league here.