While
CONSTANTINE ($28) may not be great cinema by any stretch of the
imagination, it is a solid popcorn genre offering that this reviewer found
himself liking a whole heck of a lot. Sure, Keanu Reeves displays his
usual non-existent emotional range in the title role, but for some strange
reason, it manages to give his character a certain world-weariness, which
actually works somewhat well in the context of the film. Adapted from the
DC/Vertigo Hellblazer comics and graphic novels CONSTANTINE
tells the story of one John Constantine (Reeves), a chain-smoking
detective who delves into the supernatural realm to help keep the balance
between good and evil on Earth.
Gifted
(or cursed) with the ability to see things beyond our reality, Constantine
uses his abilities to fight evil in an effort to buy his damned soul into
heaven. Discovering early on in the film that his thirty cigarette-a-day
habit has given him incurable lung cancer, Constantine utilizes his
remaining time to investigate the supernatural circumstances that drove
the identical twin sister of police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz)
to an apparent suicide. During the course of his investigation,
Constantine discovers that something dark, powerful and decidedly evil has
designs on this realm and is very close to creating a new hell on Earth.
The cast of CONSTANTINE also features Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou,
Max Baker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gavin Rossdale, Tilda Swinton and Peter
Stormare.
Warner
Home Video has made CONSTANTINE available on DVD in a 2.35:1
widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9
displays. This is another great looking transfer from Warner that produces
a sharp and very well defined image throughout. Colors can be a bit off
kilter at times, but that is the desired effect. Hues are strongly
rendered and flesh tones are generally appealing. Blacks are deep, whites
are crisp and the picture boasts good contrast and fine shadow detail. The
film elements appear virtually pristine and there is little apparent
grain. Digital compression artifacts are always well concealed.
CONSTANTINE
comes with a rather potent Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. With a
few actions sequences and an occasional trip through hell, CONSTANTINE
provides opportunities for aggressive implementations of the outlying
channels, which the sound designers take full advantage of. Sounds are
distinctly defined and move around the soundstage effortlessly to create
lively sonic environments. Fidelity is very strong, with both the musical
sound effects components coming across with a genuine sense of presence.
Dialogue is well reproduced and maintains complete intelligibility. The
bass channel is full, deep and produces a nice rumble on occasion. A
French 5.1 channel track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a couple of nice extras. Roughly eighteen
minutes worth of deleted scene are provided on the DVD, along with
optional director’s commentary. A theatrical trailer closes out the
extras on this single disc set. A two-disc version of CONSTANTINE
is also being made available with more extensive supplemental features.
As
I stated above CONSTANTINE isn’t great cinema, but it is a genre
offering that this reviewer found quite entertaining. As expected, Warner
delivers the good in regards to visual and audio quality, making this the
kind of disc genre fans will want to feed to their home theater systems.
Recommended to anyone looking for a bit of genre movie fun.
While
CONSTANTINE ($28) may not be great cinema by any stretch of the
imagination, it is a solid popcorn genre offering that this reviewer found
himself liking a whole heck of a lot. Sure, Keanu Reeves displays his
usual non-existent emotional range in the title role, but for some strange
reason, it manages to give his character a certain world-weariness, which
actually works somewhat well in the context of the film. Adapted from the
DC/Vertigo Hellblazer comics and graphic novels CONSTANTINE
tells the story of one John Constantine (Reeves), a chain-smoking
detective who delves into the supernatural realm to help keep the balance
between good and evil on Earth.
Gifted
(or cursed) with the ability to see things beyond our reality, Constantine
uses his abilities to fight evil in an effort to buy his damned soul into
heaven. Discovering early on in the film that his thirty cigarette-a-day
habit has given him incurable lung cancer, Constantine utilizes his
remaining time to investigate the supernatural circumstances that drove
the identical twin sister of police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz)
to an apparent suicide. During the course of his investigation,
Constantine discovers that something dark, powerful and decidedly evil has
designs on this realm and is very close to creating a new hell on Earth.
The cast of CONSTANTINE also features Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou,
Max Baker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gavin Rossdale, Tilda Swinton and Peter
Stormare.
Warner
Home Video has made CONSTANTINE available on DVD in a 2.35:1
widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9
displays. This is another great looking transfer from Warner that produces
a sharp and very well defined image throughout. Colors can be a bit off
kilter at times, but that is the desired effect. Hues are strongly
rendered and flesh tones are generally appealing. Blacks are deep, whites
are crisp and the picture boasts good contrast and fine shadow detail. The
film elements appear virtually pristine and there is little apparent
grain. Digital compression artifacts are always well concealed.
CONSTANTINE
comes with a rather potent Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. With a
few actions sequences and an occasional trip through hell, CONSTANTINE
provides opportunities for aggressive implementations of the outlying
channels, which the sound designers take full advantage of. Sounds are
distinctly defined and move around the soundstage effortlessly to create
lively sonic environments. Fidelity is very strong, with both the musical
sound effects components coming across with a genuine sense of presence.
Dialogue is well reproduced and maintains complete intelligibility. The
bass channel is full, deep and produces a nice rumble on occasion. A
French 5.1 channel track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a couple of nice extras. Roughly eighteen
minutes worth of deleted scene are provided on the DVD, along with
optional director’s commentary. A theatrical trailer closes out the
extras on this single disc set. A two-disc version of CONSTANTINE
is also being made available with more extensive supplemental features.
As
I stated above CONSTANTINE isn’t great cinema, but it is a genre
offering that this reviewer found quite entertaining. As expected, Warner
delivers the good in regards to visual and audio quality, making this the
kind of disc genre fans will want to feed to their home theater systems.
Recommended to anyone looking for a bit of genre movie fun.
