Have you seen the ads for the movie "Constatine"?
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ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
John Constantine has been to hell and back.
Born with a gift he didn't want, the ability to recognize the half-breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human camouflage, Constantine (KEANU REEVES) was driven to take his own life to escape the tormenting clarity of his vision. But he failed. Resuscitated against his will, he found himself cast back into the land of the living. Now, marked as an attempted suicide with a temporary lease on life, he patrols the earthly border between heaven and hell, hoping in vain to earn his way to salvation by waging war on the earthbound minions of evil.
But Constantine is no saint. Increasingly disillusioned by the world around him and at odds with the one beyond, he's a hard-drinking, hard-living bitter hero who scorns the very idea of heroism. Constantine will fight to save your soul but he doesn't want your admiration or your thanks - and certainly not your sympathy.
All he wants is a way out.
When a desperate but skeptical police detective (RACHEL WEISZ as Angela Dodson) enlists his help in solving the mysterious death of her beloved twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldy events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.
Born with a gift he didn't want, the ability to recognize the half-breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human camouflage, Constantine (KEANU REEVES) was driven to take his own life to escape the tormenting clarity of his vision. But he failed. Resuscitated against his will, he found himself cast back into the land of the living. Now, marked as an attempted suicide with a temporary lease on life, he patrols the earthly border between heaven and hell, hoping in vain to earn his way to salvation by waging war on the earthbound minions of evil.
But Constantine is no saint. Increasingly disillusioned by the world around him and at odds with the one beyond, he's a hard-drinking, hard-living bitter hero who scorns the very idea of heroism. Constantine will fight to save your soul but he doesn't want your admiration or your thanks - and certainly not your sympathy.
All he wants is a way out.
When a desperate but skeptical police detective (RACHEL WEISZ as Angela Dodson) enlists his help in solving the mysterious death of her beloved twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldy events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
I know, but I assume some here may have some deep thoughts in regard to this.
ABondSlaveofChristJesus
Puritan Board Freshman
Is this the next movie in the Left Behind series?
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
I won't be seeing it, but it sort of facinates me that Hollywood chose that name.
Average Joey
Puritan Board Junior
Ah just like all the "religions" in the world.:bigsmile:
FrozenChosen
Puritan Board Freshman
At least they finally cast Reeves as a heavy drinker. That way his acting might seem a little plausible.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
future expatriate
Puritan Board Freshman
I'm interested in the visuals, but the film itself looks absolutely terrible. Like King Arthur bad.
BlackCalvinist
Puritan Board Senior
Looks (from the trailers) like a cross between Matrix and any random movie with tons of horror special effects (like 13 Ghosts).
Joseph Ringling
Puritan Board Freshman
I can't watch Keanu Reeves with a straight face because I always remember him in Bill and Ted's excellent adventure. EXCELLENT! 
BlackCalvinist
Puritan Board Senior
I'm still debating on going to see it or not. On one hand it did look very interesting.... on another, I usually avoid movies with demonism of any type as their theme.... and yet on another hand, I always want to analyze such movies to see the theological 'bent' of the movie's writers.
Larry Hughes
Puritan Board Sophomore
Its funny in our house. My wife is disturbed more by movies with vivid imagery and I am not. But movies with a philosophical religion being sold absolutely make me loose sleep because of the deception.
E.g., She hated "The Village", not because of the weak story but those slow moving 'skeckzy' like red creatures. She literally had nightmares. Didn't bother me.
But the Lion King, which I enjoyed the humorous part, I hated the philosophy being sold in it about death being a circle of life with E. John's big tune and fan fare - which was the center piece of the movie. I told her, "see how we are selling this stuff to our children and adults? Rather than death being the effect of sin it becomes this idiotic fanciful circle/part of life - hiding the reality of its connection with sin - hiding the need - hiding the seeking of Christ. Why be afraid of what death is if its just a circle of life."
Don't get me wrong I'm not against going to movies at all, just be prepared to and use them as leaping boards for teaching. Especially if you have kids.
L
E.g., She hated "The Village", not because of the weak story but those slow moving 'skeckzy' like red creatures. She literally had nightmares. Didn't bother me.
But the Lion King, which I enjoyed the humorous part, I hated the philosophy being sold in it about death being a circle of life with E. John's big tune and fan fare - which was the center piece of the movie. I told her, "see how we are selling this stuff to our children and adults? Rather than death being the effect of sin it becomes this idiotic fanciful circle/part of life - hiding the reality of its connection with sin - hiding the need - hiding the seeking of Christ. Why be afraid of what death is if its just a circle of life."
Don't get me wrong I'm not against going to movies at all, just be prepared to and use them as leaping boards for teaching. Especially if you have kids.
L
Irishcat922
Puritan Board Sophomore
O.K. DON'T DO IT! Crappy movies should be considered a no-no for believers.
VirginiaHuguenot
Puritanboard Librarian
Last update: February 18, 2005 at 8:02 AM
Review: 'Constantine' is twisted Christian allegory
Colin Covert, Star Tribune
February 18, 2005 CONSTANTINE0218
Hellacious, audacious, visually stunning and deeply wiggy, "Constantine" is a miracle, a comic-book movie for smart people.
Adapted from the D.C. Comics fan-boy classic "Hellblazer," it's set in a film-noir Los Angeles of photogenically seedy tenements, grimy linoleum and malignant fluorescent lighting. Keanu Reeves' black trench coat recalls the cyberpunk "Matrix" films, but "Constantine" is a twisted Christian allegory. Call it Bible punk.
The film's title character, John Constantine, is a hard-boiled Raymond Chandler detective hero by way of "The Exorcist," moodily chain-smoking when he isn't casting demons out of screaming, thrashing immigrant girls.
Noir heroes are typically scarred by their long exposure to the inhumane side of human nature. Constantine takes the prize for alienation. He was born with the unnerving ability to recognize half-breed demons and angels moving among us in human disguise. A botched teenage suicide attempt sent him to hell for two minutes before medics revived him. Aware that his soul belongs to Satan, he knows his fate is fast approaching. His lung X-ray is as spotty as his soul.
Keanu Reeves stars in "Constantine"Warner brothers. PicturesConstantine is pursuing a long-shot bet, trying to earn heaven by thwarting evil spirits on Earth. According to the movie's do-it-yourself theology, it's up to mortals to protect themselves. God and Satan are playing out a bet about the fate of mankind, and the terms of the wager allow no direct interference.
"God's a kid with an ant farm," Constantine ruefully declares.
Now, however, someone is breaking the rules of the game. Rather than merely influencing people to lose their souls, demons are clawing through the skin of their human hosts. So Constantine has more pressing concerns when LAPD detective Angela Dodson (Rachael Weisz) asks him to help prove that her twin sister's death was not a suicide, so she can receive a Catholic burial.
Keanu Reeves, Djimon Honsou and Shia LaBeouf in "Constantine"David JamesSkeptical but goaded on by his grudging sense of honor, he takes the case mostly because some spectacularly visualized demonic thugs try to frighten him off. Constantine fights them with artillery such as the Holy Shotgun, a weird collision between a crucifix, a crossbow and a semi-automatic 12-gauge. It's the sort of armament you'd expect to see Bruce Campbell using in an "Evil Dead" movie, but "Constantine" employs its outrageous touches judiciously.
The movie is so dense with detail that it doesn't surrender all its secrets in a single viewing. It works on two levels, as a jump-out-of-your-seat supernatural thriller and a sly commentary on its absurdity.
Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz star in "Constantine."Warner BrosThe talented music-video director Francis Lawrence maintains a strange balance of the mundane and the metaphysical. He has a fine eye for dilapidated environments; Constantine's apartment above a fleabag bowling alley is appealing in a Tom Waits kind of way.
Lawrence keeps the story rooted in gritty reality, simmering on a suspenseful slow boil between eruptions of CGI spectacle. He uses computer imagery sparingly to conserve its oomph, as in grotesque scenes showing hell as a post-apocalyptic modern city.
The director also displays an old-fashioned faith in the ability of talented actors to tell the story. Fascinating performers -- Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Stormare and Gavin Rossdale of Bush -- cram every nook and cranny of the film like saints in a cathedral.
While Reeves is often criticized for his lack of emotional range, his reserve is appealing in this role. He plays Constantine with the sardonic stoicism a frightened man might adopt to ready himself for battle.
In contrast, Weisz's eyes are as expressive as a CNN News crawl. You can read everything she's thinking, including her growing desire to take her professional connection with Constantine to the next level. Whether they will get into a clinch is the basis for a clever running joke.
"Constantine" is a mystery about eternal mysteries and, as such, very serious, for all light entertainments that are any good must be about matters of life and death.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** out of four stars
The setup: A spiritual detective (Keanu Reeves) untangles the connection between a suicide and a demonic invasion of Los Angeles.
What works: A fascinating mix of dark detective fiction, twisted Christian allegory, bone-dry humor and judiciously used special effects.
What doesn't: Comic sidekick Shia LaBeouf is hard to swallow as an apprentice exorcist.
Great scene: Hang around after the end credits for a nice going-away present.
Rating: R for violence and demonic images.
Review: 'Constantine' is twisted Christian allegory
Colin Covert, Star Tribune
February 18, 2005 CONSTANTINE0218
Hellacious, audacious, visually stunning and deeply wiggy, "Constantine" is a miracle, a comic-book movie for smart people.
Adapted from the D.C. Comics fan-boy classic "Hellblazer," it's set in a film-noir Los Angeles of photogenically seedy tenements, grimy linoleum and malignant fluorescent lighting. Keanu Reeves' black trench coat recalls the cyberpunk "Matrix" films, but "Constantine" is a twisted Christian allegory. Call it Bible punk.
The film's title character, John Constantine, is a hard-boiled Raymond Chandler detective hero by way of "The Exorcist," moodily chain-smoking when he isn't casting demons out of screaming, thrashing immigrant girls.
Noir heroes are typically scarred by their long exposure to the inhumane side of human nature. Constantine takes the prize for alienation. He was born with the unnerving ability to recognize half-breed demons and angels moving among us in human disguise. A botched teenage suicide attempt sent him to hell for two minutes before medics revived him. Aware that his soul belongs to Satan, he knows his fate is fast approaching. His lung X-ray is as spotty as his soul.
Keanu Reeves stars in "Constantine"Warner brothers. PicturesConstantine is pursuing a long-shot bet, trying to earn heaven by thwarting evil spirits on Earth. According to the movie's do-it-yourself theology, it's up to mortals to protect themselves. God and Satan are playing out a bet about the fate of mankind, and the terms of the wager allow no direct interference.
"God's a kid with an ant farm," Constantine ruefully declares.
Now, however, someone is breaking the rules of the game. Rather than merely influencing people to lose their souls, demons are clawing through the skin of their human hosts. So Constantine has more pressing concerns when LAPD detective Angela Dodson (Rachael Weisz) asks him to help prove that her twin sister's death was not a suicide, so she can receive a Catholic burial.
Keanu Reeves, Djimon Honsou and Shia LaBeouf in "Constantine"David JamesSkeptical but goaded on by his grudging sense of honor, he takes the case mostly because some spectacularly visualized demonic thugs try to frighten him off. Constantine fights them with artillery such as the Holy Shotgun, a weird collision between a crucifix, a crossbow and a semi-automatic 12-gauge. It's the sort of armament you'd expect to see Bruce Campbell using in an "Evil Dead" movie, but "Constantine" employs its outrageous touches judiciously.
The movie is so dense with detail that it doesn't surrender all its secrets in a single viewing. It works on two levels, as a jump-out-of-your-seat supernatural thriller and a sly commentary on its absurdity.
Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz star in "Constantine."Warner BrosThe talented music-video director Francis Lawrence maintains a strange balance of the mundane and the metaphysical. He has a fine eye for dilapidated environments; Constantine's apartment above a fleabag bowling alley is appealing in a Tom Waits kind of way.
Lawrence keeps the story rooted in gritty reality, simmering on a suspenseful slow boil between eruptions of CGI spectacle. He uses computer imagery sparingly to conserve its oomph, as in grotesque scenes showing hell as a post-apocalyptic modern city.
The director also displays an old-fashioned faith in the ability of talented actors to tell the story. Fascinating performers -- Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Stormare and Gavin Rossdale of Bush -- cram every nook and cranny of the film like saints in a cathedral.
While Reeves is often criticized for his lack of emotional range, his reserve is appealing in this role. He plays Constantine with the sardonic stoicism a frightened man might adopt to ready himself for battle.
In contrast, Weisz's eyes are as expressive as a CNN News crawl. You can read everything she's thinking, including her growing desire to take her professional connection with Constantine to the next level. Whether they will get into a clinch is the basis for a clever running joke.
"Constantine" is a mystery about eternal mysteries and, as such, very serious, for all light entertainments that are any good must be about matters of life and death.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** out of four stars
The setup: A spiritual detective (Keanu Reeves) untangles the connection between a suicide and a demonic invasion of Los Angeles.
What works: A fascinating mix of dark detective fiction, twisted Christian allegory, bone-dry humor and judiciously used special effects.
What doesn't: Comic sidekick Shia LaBeouf is hard to swallow as an apprentice exorcist.
Great scene: Hang around after the end credits for a nice going-away present.
Rating: R for violence and demonic images.
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