Edward Douglas:"Warner Brothers and director Francis Lawrence recently invited a few select people to see twenty-five minutes of footage from Constantine, their upcoming movie based on DC Comics' Hellblazer. For the uninitiated, John Constantine is a mystical detective of sorts, using his wits and mystical abilities to fight demons. The character was created by Alan Moore ("Watchmen," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") as the cynical, chain-smoking foil to the Swamp Thing, but the dark nature of the character made him the perfect character to kick-off DC's mature Vertigo Comics line in 1992. Unlike the heroes of other comic book movies, Constantine is not exactly a superhero. He wears a trench coat instead of spandex, and he's not exactly a role model for the kiddies because of the smoking thing.The movie has been in the works for many years, and diehard fans of the series-of which I am definitely one-might have been skeptical about a dark-haired "yank" taking the place of Moore's blonde Brit from the comics. Since that American actor is Keanu Reeves, the most obvious reference point will obviously be "The Matrix," but having seen this footage, fans might be pleasantly surprised at how much of the flavor and tone of the comic books has been retained. Most of this can be attributed to Lawrence, and Constantine is his first feature film after directing commercials and many music videos for the likes of Aerosmith, Justin, Britney and others.
The footage shown included snippets of varying lengths from the movie including five extra minutes not shown at the San Diego Comic Con; the effects had been further developed, as well. "
(NOTE: If you have absolutely no interest in knowing anything about what happens in the movie before seeing it, stop reading here. Minor spoilers ahead.)
Since I've read the Dangerous Habits trade, I'm already spoiled for part of the plot line of the film. I'm really going to try and avoid being spoiled for the rest of it. So if you read the rest of the article, please try and keep your comments spoiler-free as well. Thanks.
Also, KeanuWeb has a transcipt of the upcoming trailer by someone lucky enough to get a sneak peek.
constantine | from inside the mind of krix at November 23, 2004 11:49 AM ."Spoilers"...now THAT is a "Dangerous Habit!" LOL! Critics...whatta they know? :-p
Can we see this moving...I mean..."movie" now? I have a feeling it's gonna be a "blockbuster" ;-)
Posted by: lizzie on November 23, 2004 03:47 PMman, it really gripes my ass to read the "pseudo-praise" that keanu plays Constantine a lot looser than he played Neo. ever thought it might be due to the difference in characters? when o when will people stop seeing (what they assume is) the actor and see through to the character? okay, sorry to bitch, it's probably the meds. cannot wait for this movie, really, truly!
Posted by: lori on November 24, 2004 10:19 AMRemember, this is a fan site.
Keanu Reeves is in no way connnected to this website.
Please do not make a comment thinking he will read it.
Comments are for discussion with other fans.
Thank you.