Saw it, hated it. Saw it again, changed my mind. Saw it again, really quite dug it.

You see the pattern. Really pretty cool for some reason. Like Riddick! And May! ... And Event Horizon.. Actually, why are so many of the films actually like here?!

@lwppopz said:

Great Movie - good to see it get defended.

Agreed. Far too many comic fan boys put me off this film with their hatred, but when I finally got around to seeing it I really liked what they did.

Pruitt Taylor Vince as Father Hennessy, an insomniac, alcoholic priest with the ability to communicate with the dead. He constantly drinks in order to "keep the voices out". I believe he was great in the movie as well.

I agree that "Catholic Angst: The Movie" is a decent film. Even with Reeves' wooden acting, the character is at least interesting to listen to. The one major flaw, from the comic perspective, is Constantine is English. It wouldn't seem like a big deal if you haven't read the comics, but he's so stereotypically English that having an American play him just doesn't make sense.

Also, where did the scene with Shia Labeouf-com-angel come from? Is it in a director's cut or something?

One of my favourite films of the last 5-6 years, good pick.

I beg each and every one of you that like this film or defend it to go and pick up "Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits" and give it a read and them come back to the movie to understand why its pretty awful. You can argue the technical merits of the film and the mis casting, but its the poor characterization of Constantine that is the real nail in the coffin for this flick.

@BoOMbOoMpOw said:

I loved this movie !!!!! I don`t understand why everybody has so high expectings from comicbook movies O.o

I think a lot of it stems from the fact that the fans of said comic book see these stories as already written and storyboarded ala their comic nature. But then Hollywood gets a hold of it and says "Ahhh fuck it. We picked up the rights for a song, so lets do out own thing." Which, most of the time isnt a good thing.

@Graves: I have read the book, and love Hellblazer. I get what your saying about it being entirely different, and I would have liked to see a faithful representation but alas they didn't bother with that. I took the film as something entirely different, and didn't bother comparing it too the original work and loved it! Maybe it's easier for me to say that because I watched the movie first, read the comics and watched the movie again. I just think they are so different that they shouldn't even be classed as the same thing, if you get what I mean!

I think its time to take another crack at John Constantine (and lets call the damned thing Hellblazer this time!) Among its many lessons for Hollywood, Harry Potter taught us that a movie with the inherent "Britishness" of Hellblazer CAN succeed in America, and indeed, the world.