Constantine (2005): Remembering a movie I’d rather forget
My experience with the DC Comics character Constantine was unpleasant, at best. Some of you who were already reading my reviews back in 2005 may remember it...
2013 UPDATE: This just in — the DC comic book character Constantine is about to make a comeback.
Warner Bros. TV and DC Comics are on a roll this development season with a third high-profile project.Constantine, a drama based on the characters in DC Comics’ John Constantine stories, has sold to NBC with penalty. It is written/executive produced by The Mentalist executive producer Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer, the go-to writer for Warner Bros.’ feature DC adaptations. Constantine centers on John Constantine, an enigmatic and irreverent con man-turned-reluctant supernatural detective who is thrust into the role of defending us against dark forces from beyond.
Reason to rejoice? Hardly.
My experience with the Constantine phenomenon was a bitter one. Some of you who were already reading my reviews back in 2005 may remember it.
Somehow, studios convinced a Christian media company to market the big-budget fantasy movie Constantine to Christian audiences as if it was going to be some kind of substantially theological event. Instead, the movie turned out to be an event that reveled in distortions of Christian theology, iconography, terminology, ideals, and traditions. Even as it made money of gullible Christian audiences (there were even discussion guides for churches), it was laughing all the way to the bank by mocking Christianity and demonstrating a total lack of understanding.
I was reluctant to give the film any attention at all. But somebody had to blow the whistle.
Here’s a souvenir of that experience... my original review of Constantine. It was published in the February 2005 print edition of Christianity Today and on their website. I also participated in interviews with the cast and the director. You can read excerpts from those conversations.
Consider this proof that no amount of sweet-talking, gifts from the studio, expensive accommodations, or attempts to “Christianize” an abomination will persuade me to give something a good review.