Constantine

Rating: ***/*****, or 7/10

Fascinating mix of horror and action, based on the DC comic book series Hellblazer. Keanu Reeves stars as John Constantine, a cynical, rude chain smoking exorcist who has had the misfortune of having the ability to see the angels and demons secretly roaming our world all around us since childhood. Despite having dispatched scores of demons back to hell, he's on his last legs suffering from terminal lung cancer, soon doomed to a final one-way trip to the underworld. Reeves is reunited with Rachel Weisz (they starred opposite each other in Chain Reaction (1996), who plays a detective investigating the apparent suicide of her mentally ill Catholic twin sister. She soon finds out it was a part of a much larger plot that might involve the sudden End of Days as the son of Satan means to overthrow his father's reign and release hell on Earth. Despite the two of them not getting along, Constantine is forced to team up with her to stop this imminent Apocalypse, but finds himself being hindered by both angels and demons alike, all with their own agenda, including a androgynous deranged Gabriel (Tilda Swinton). Though visually impressive – especially the hellish version of Los Angeles – and containing a bunch of solid action and horror scenes, the weird potpourri of historical and Apocalyptic elements and Biblical role-reversals has to be taken with quite a grain of salt. Reeves also falls back into his already firmly established Messiah routine (and it wouldn't be the last time), while Weisz clearly proves who is the better actor of the two. A sequel has been in the works for years, but always fails to materialize beyond mere planning.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton

Directed by Francis Lawrence

USA: Warner Bros., 2005