Rolling Stone
"CONSTANTINE has enough subtextual codes to spawn its own cult." 03/10/2005 p.118Uncut
"[D]irector Francis Lawrence pulls off some canny support casting and uses the effects budget well..." 04/01/2005 p.135 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"CONSTANTINE is an FX-packed, noir-drenched adaptation..." 02/01/2005 p.88 Sight and Sound
"As with the entire genre, much of the fun comes from the loopy theology and shuffling of occult macguffins..." 04/01/2005 p.51-52 Entertainment Weekly
"Reeves is an unexpectedly decent fit, all cigarette-punctuated, screw-this detachment..." 07/29/2005 p.54 ReelViews 7 of 10
Rarely has the question "What the hell?" been more appropriate. An uneven amalgamation of the brilliant and the preposterous, Constantine left me by turns intrigued, confused, and wary. The recipe calls for some ingredients that are compelling, others that are audacious, and others that are downright maddening. With a bold, dynamic visual style that fuses film noir elements with traditional horror motifs, Constantine can be considered many things, but dull is not amongst them. This is not a timid film, yet it's not an entirely successful one, either...Keanu Reeves, who filmed Constantine immediately after being immersed in the Matrix sequels, is in Neo mode. There are superficial differences - Constantine is less likeable and more cynical - but Reeves plays the two as spiritual kinsmen. After all, it took a full movie before Neo came to accept his role as the Chosen One. Rachel Weisz, looking for a good companion piece on her resume for the Mummy flicks, has found it...Constantine will appeal most strongly to those with a penchant for vivid cinematic comic book adaptations. It remains to be seen whether it will find its audience or end up ignored by viewers expecting another installment of The Matrix or a more traditional horror movie. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 5 of 10
No, "Constantine" is not part of a trilogy including "Troy" and "Alexander." It's not about the emperor at all, but about a man who can see the world behind the world, and is waging war against the scavengers of the damned. There was a nice documentary about emperor penguins, however, at Sundance this year. The males sit on the eggs all winter long in like 60 degrees below zero...Keanu Reeves plays Constantine as a chain-smoking, depressed demon-hunter who lives above a bowling alley in Los Angeles. Since he was a child, he has been able to see that not all who walk among us are human. Some are penguins. Sorry about that. Some are half-angels and half-devils. Constantine knows he is doomed to hell because he once tried to kill himself, and is trying to rack up enough frames against the demons to earn his way into heaven...Reeves has a deliberately morose energy level in the movie, as befits one who has seen hell, walks among half-demons, and is dying. He keeps on smoking. Eventually he confronts Satan (Peter Stormare), who wears a white suit. (Satan to tailor: "I want a suit just like God's.") Oh, and the plot also involves the Spear of Destiny, which is the spear that killed Christ, and which has been missing since World War II, which seems to open a window to the possibility of Nazi villains, but no. - Roger Ebert
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