Verbal Diorama

Constantine


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Keanu Reeves is often criticised for not "acting" enough in his movies. He may not be the John Constantine of comic book fans dreams, but with his literal devil-may-care attitude and cynical despondence on full display, I think he pretty much nails this John Constantine - a man at the end of his life, desperate to save enough souls from damnation so he can go to Heaven after a teenage suicide attempt leaves him with no option but to go to Hell.


Pair him with Rachel Weisz, (a woman who could make a movie of herself cooking eggs and I'd watch it), and her effervescent charm, it really is great to watch them together.


Religious subtexts aside, this is a movie about faith in humanity too. John's faith is restored by his dealings with Weisz's bereaved police detective Angela Dodson and although he becomes a hero, it's not really about his journey to heroism, more about giving the finger to authority and doing the right thing.


Listen, I know you know how much I loved Dredd for its ability to adapt its source material so effectively, and Constantine is not without source material (and a more faithful TV show), but if this movie was called anything else, it wouldn't be as derided as it unfortunately was. It still looks good after 15 years, and while some of the performances stand out as being less than hellblazing (I'm looking at you Gavin Rossdale!), Keanu's is pretty great actually - and I'm not the only person who thinks so (thankfully!)


I would love to hear your thoughts on Constantine! You can get in touch on

Twitter @verbaldiorama

Instagram @verbaldiorama

Facebook @verbaldiorama

YouTube @verbaldiorama

Letterboxd @verbaldiorama


or you can email me general hellos, feedback or suggestions:

verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com


Thank you to our Patreon Producer Sade, patrons Simon and Jardiel and new patron Claudia for supporting Verbal Diorama! To support the show on Patreon from just $2 a month, have a look over at https://www.patreon.com/verbaldiorama and choose your Keanu (John Constantine is an option!!)


You can rate or review the show in iTunes or at Apple Podcasts and I'd very much appreciate that!


My website is at https://verbaldiorama.com


Thanks to the following for their contributions to this episode:


Twitter peeps


@WooLongTalks

@FilmbustersPaul

@MoviesWork

@movievirginspod

@Capt_Hangry

@kevin_thecritic

@NerdsWithFriend

@simon_exton

@trivia_chic

@tepidville

@ComicsinMotionP

@JRSP_1978

@nle318

@RobWadeVision

@lukesolo73


Instagram folk

@talesofpeck


Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song

Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe Facebook

Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)


Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studios.


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Verbal DioramaBy Verbal Diorama

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