No long review, but I did want to mention that they did a fairly good job with Constantine. Those going looking for the Alan Moore character or the characters and plot from the "Dangerous Habits" storyline that acted as a seed for the central arc of this movie will be disappointed. Aside from that, though, the most damning thing I can say about the transition from the British rogue mystic from the comics and the American damned soul is that while they give him the trappings of roguishness Keanu Reeves' Constantine too quickly becomes a sympathetic character. In the comics, Constantine isn't someone one wants to have to deal with, being only preferable to the truly nasty things one might need his help in escaping. As for the movie itself, there's not much in the way of real surprises, and you'll almost certainly see the ending coming... and I'm not even sure I completely understand why the Lord of Hell made the decision he did near the end unless it's to tell us that he's an honorable Lord of Hell... but it made as much sense as the Garth Ennis ending of (the IMHO over-rated) "Dangerous Habits" did.
It's a good time, though, and rolls along fairly quickly for a movie that makes it just past the two hour mark. I'll ba happy to discuss some of the fine points with those who saw it or don't care about seeing the movie but want to know what elements from Ennis' tale made the leap to the script and what didn't. As it's opening weekend, though, I don't want to spill more details out in the open.
Oh, yes, I realize running out to see a movie doesn't appear to be the act of someone concerned about finances, but I'd planned on getting out to see this so it was part of the planned frivilous spending.
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