Constantine (film)

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Movie
German title Constantine
Original title Constantine
Country of production USA , Germany
original language English
Publishing year 2005
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Francis Lawrence
script Kevin Brodbin
production Lorenzo di Bonaventura ,
Akiva Goldsman
music Klaus Badelt ,
Brian Tyler
camera Philippe Rousselot
cut Wayne Wahrman
occupation

Constantine is an American Mystery - Thriller after the comic series Hellblazer from 2005, which is about a conflict between heaven and hell goes. The main characters are Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz .

action

Police officer Angela Dodson is investigating the suicide of her twin sister Isabel, who is considered mentally ill . In doing so, she meets the exorcist and chain smoker John Constantine, who - taken literally - has already walked the path to hell and back. As a teenager he was in the afterlife for two minutes after attempting suicide. The reason for his suicide attempt was that as a child he already had the ability to perceive the rule and work of angels and demons on earth, which is why he was declared insane and harassed with electroshock therapy. According to a pact that God made with the devil , angels and demons are forbidden from entering the human dimension. Anyone who violates this law will be tracked down by Constantine and transported back to his home sphere.

Constantine, who suffers from advanced lung cancer and only has about a year to live, is supported by the archangel Gabriel and the inexperienced taxi driver Chas with his assignments. With his fight against the demons he wants to wash himself clean of the deadly sin of suicide so that he does not have to spend eternity in hell after his death. However, his deeds have not yet helped him to heaven because, according to Gabriel, he only commits them out of self-interest and not out of selflessness. However, Constantine recognizes an accumulation of offenses against the old agreement and learns that Angela and her sister had the ability to see angels and demons since childhood. While Angela denied this ability and finally gave it up, Isabel was plagued by visions throughout her life and, like Constantine, labeled as insane.

Together and with the help of two short but intense trips to Hell, John and Angela find out that Mammon , the son of the devil , was after Isabel to find a way to earth through her and to establish a reign of terror that was his Father's. Isabel was able to prevent this by her suicide, but this brought her soul to hell and Angela was chosen as a new victim. To protect her, John gives her an amulet that is supposed to prevent her body from being used as a gate for Mammon. After a fight with the half-demon Balthasar, he reveals that Mammon was able to get hold of the spear of fate , which the legionnaire Longinus had once soaked with the blood of Christ . Mammon not only needs the spear, but also divine help to get into the world. When Angela takes off the amulet out of carelessness, she is kidnapped by an invisible force.

With the help of the neutral Midnite, John follows the trail of Mammon and can thus determine the whereabouts of Angela. Together with Chas, he is able to prevent Mammon from entering the human world through Angela's body, but Chas is killed by an invisible attacker. Constantine can unmask this with his powers. It turns out that it is Gabriel who wants to help the son of the devil to rule on earth. Gabriel feels that humanity is unworthy of ascending into the kingdom of God. In her opinion, people only develop the necessary dignity in times of need. That is why she supports Mammon to bring this need to the people. When the archangel is about to free Mammon, John takes extreme measures: He commits suicide again and, as one of the few who ever left hell alive, is visited by the incarnate person who appears in person to pick him up. When Constantine points out Gabriel's betrayal to Lucifer , he saves Angela and sends Mammon back to Hell. Gabriel wants to attack Lucifer, but fails because God no longer supports them. She then becomes a person.

Lucifer grants Constantine one last wish in return for exposing the plot. Constantine wishes that Isabel's soul would be released from hell, which "Lu" granted him. When Lucifer finds out with disappointment that Constantine's soul is open to heaven through this act of selfless sacrifice, he is more willing to save its life than to leave it to God. In this way he heals Constantine's wounds and removes his lung cancer so that it can sin again and thus “earn” its place in hell again. When Angela regains consciousness, Gabriel begs Constantine to kill her. Constantine refuses, because Gabriel is condemned to continue living as a human being and to experience pain, which Constantine Gabriel "explains" with a punch in the face. Before John says goodbye to Angela, he asks her to hide the Spear of Fate so that no one can ever find it. Then he puts a piece of chewing gum in his mouth with the movement that is typical for him, in which he usually lit the next cigarette.

In a post-credit scene , Constantine visits Chas' grave and sees him become an angel and ascend to heaven.

Reviews

Jürgen Armbruster “ Filmstarts ” wrote: “The bottom line is that 'Constantine' is a pleasant surprise. Anyone who has expected a second ' Van Helsing ' disaster after viewing the previously published pictures must and may be taught better. A captivating look, cracking action and characters with cult potential. The film will be a hit, no question about it. 'Constantine' is not an absolute high-flyer, but genre friends get what they want. "

Rüdiger Suchsland writes for film on Bavarian television that the film offers “average mystery action”, that it is “reasonably entertaining, but without stylistic stringency and intellectual depth, but above all without the poetic excess that such a fantasy piece needs to really function emotionally. ”He describes the script as“ crude through and through ”.

Cinema magazine wrote that the film was "a somewhat lengthy, but beautifully cynical occult thriller without the usual comic trash odor".

For Rochus Wolff from critic.de, “Reeves' appearance does not change the fact that Constantine offers a visually very dense narrative that doesn't get boring for over two hours - even if fans of the Hellblazer series will be a little lacking in the gloom, for which the comic books are famous ”.

The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

background

Constantine is the cinema debut of music video director Francis Lawrence (including POD "Alive").

The story of the film is based on Hellblazer by Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis. The character of John Constantine was created by comic book writer Alan Moore for the series Swamp Thing ( DC Comics ) .

Much of Constantine's very extensive visual effects was primarily created by Australian VFX studio ESC, which worked closely with Keanu Reeves during the production of the groundbreaking effects for the two sequels of the Matrix trilogy. Her work mainly focused on the animation of the angel wings, the demon as a crawling animal (also known as "Vermin Man") and the appearance of Satan (e.g. the broken door). The remaining demons (apparitions) and the hell worlds were primarily created by the Tippett Studio company , which is particularly known for its high-quality character animations. The companies Hydraulx , CIS Hollywood , FuriousFX & HatchFX took over the remaining effect sequences. Oscar winner Allen Hall was among the special effects artists .

Worldwide, the film grossed about $ 230 million on a budget of $ 100 million.

Trivia

When John instructs his assistant Chas to drive the car back so as not to be hit by the mirror, the book Satanism and Witchcraft by Jules Michelet can be seen on the dashboard of the car .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Constantine . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2005 (PDF; test number: 101 413 K).
  2. ^ Criticism on br-online.de ( Memento from January 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ criticism from www.critic.de .
  4. ↑ Entry in the Internet Movie Database .