Constantine
So Joe, Steph, Ross, Naomi, Gym and Colleen and I went to see Constantine last night. I have to say, it was well worth the hour layover we had to take to make it. The 920 and 1020 shows both sold out, so we bought tickets for the 11pm and went to Applebee's to waste time.
But the movie surpassed my expectations. I figured it would be a fairly good movie, a little hokey, cliche' in parts, but at least good special effects and all. Turns out the hokey parts were few and far between and the special effects were better than expected.
What I didn't actually expect from the movie was the huge amount of references, both biblical and to the occult, and the symbolism interwoven everywhere. For example, everyone has seen the preview where Constantine gets "dragon's breath", a weapon that is essentially like the magic wand of Agni which doubles as a flame thrower. True, I found that particular instance to be a little hokey, but the way in which it was presented saved it. They didn't bother explaining whether dragon's actually exist on this plain of existence or whether it was just a...uh...descriptive term for the weapon. In fact, there were several other instances in which Constantine uses some artifact without explanation of where it came from or why it does what it does (note that this is a generalization. Several things, such as "the chair" and "the spear" are fully explained, but only when it adds some need-to-know information to the film).
The plot line is sound, but you leave wishing they hadn't cut the movie at 2 hours long. Certain characters, such as Midnight or Belial, could use a little more back story. I would love to get a copy of this on DVD when it comes out, because there will undoubtedly be some amazing deleted scenes fleshing out these complex characters a little.
One of the few downsides to the movie is that it is knowledge intensive. To quote Joe, "There was a lot going on in that movie." Though Joe didn't have a problem with it considering his Catholic school upbringing and I didn't have a problem with it considering the...well....anyways, throughout the movie I heard, "I don't get it...what's that mean?" Steph also mentioned that some of the stuff in there was a little over her head. And again, though I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that they didn't interrupt the flow by explaining the references and origin of all these different symbols and objects, it probably does make it a little difficult to follow for those with little to no experience in religion. Keep in mind, though, that much of the symbolism is not solely Catholic or even monotheistic. Much of the movie is simply based on the occult and, as Joe pointed out, what mankind has done to take their stand as the monkey in the middle.
But I give it 3 and a half stars out of four. It was good, had it's flaws, had it's holes, but what I paid to see was an action flick with lots of special effects. What I did see was a action flick with lots of special effects and an intelligent storyline, not to mention interesting references.
But the movie surpassed my expectations. I figured it would be a fairly good movie, a little hokey, cliche' in parts, but at least good special effects and all. Turns out the hokey parts were few and far between and the special effects were better than expected.
What I didn't actually expect from the movie was the huge amount of references, both biblical and to the occult, and the symbolism interwoven everywhere. For example, everyone has seen the preview where Constantine gets "dragon's breath", a weapon that is essentially like the magic wand of Agni which doubles as a flame thrower. True, I found that particular instance to be a little hokey, but the way in which it was presented saved it. They didn't bother explaining whether dragon's actually exist on this plain of existence or whether it was just a...uh...descriptive term for the weapon. In fact, there were several other instances in which Constantine uses some artifact without explanation of where it came from or why it does what it does (note that this is a generalization. Several things, such as "the chair" and "the spear" are fully explained, but only when it adds some need-to-know information to the film).
The plot line is sound, but you leave wishing they hadn't cut the movie at 2 hours long. Certain characters, such as Midnight or Belial, could use a little more back story. I would love to get a copy of this on DVD when it comes out, because there will undoubtedly be some amazing deleted scenes fleshing out these complex characters a little.
One of the few downsides to the movie is that it is knowledge intensive. To quote Joe, "There was a lot going on in that movie." Though Joe didn't have a problem with it considering his Catholic school upbringing and I didn't have a problem with it considering the...well....anyways, throughout the movie I heard, "I don't get it...what's that mean?" Steph also mentioned that some of the stuff in there was a little over her head. And again, though I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that they didn't interrupt the flow by explaining the references and origin of all these different symbols and objects, it probably does make it a little difficult to follow for those with little to no experience in religion. Keep in mind, though, that much of the symbolism is not solely Catholic or even monotheistic. Much of the movie is simply based on the occult and, as Joe pointed out, what mankind has done to take their stand as the monkey in the middle.
But I give it 3 and a half stars out of four. It was good, had it's flaws, had it's holes, but what I paid to see was an action flick with lots of special effects. What I did see was a action flick with lots of special effects and an intelligent storyline, not to mention interesting references.
posted by J.B.P. at 8:37 AM
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