In the early 2000s, the comic-book movie renaissance was still a few years away. enter Constantine, a movie produced by Akiva Goldsman, directed by Francis Lawrence, and starring Keanau Reeves. Ostensibly a horror-action film, the character Reeves played is based on John Constantine from Swamp thing and the Hellblazer comics. Upon its release, fans of comics didn’t know how to react. Constantine is a more defined character than some others, specifically in that he’s a British punk rocker who wears a white shirt, red tie, and tan trench coat who dabbles in the dark arts. This is not what Constantine gave fans, but the 15th anniversary panel from Comic-Con at home celebrates what it did give them. Goldsman, Reeves, and Lawrence all showed up to talk about this movie that they still clearly love.
I first watched this film while deployed to Iraq with the us Army. despite my affection for the comic book version of the character, I enjoyed it immensely. As always, my attitude is that I appreciate the attempt to adapt a comic book story into live-action. This wasn’t “my” John Constantine, but it was still a good movie about a John Constantine. Now, thanks to the Arrowverse, we’ve gotten a comics accurate Constantine from Matt Ryan on his canceled-too-soon series, in DC animated movies, and Legends of Tomorrow. Thus, many fans of the Hellblazer went back to this film with fresh eyes.
Over the past 15 years, fans began to see the film for what it is, rather than judging it for what it isn’t. The result is that we have a beautiful, frightening, and thrilling story about angels, demons, and sardonic sorcerer who gets the best of all of them.
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The best parts of the Constantine 15th anniversary Panel from Comic-Con at Home
Afbeelding via Screengrab
Honestly, the best thing about this panel is that it gives the people more of what they love, specifically Keanu Reeves being a joy to watch. One some of these Comic-Con at home panels, you can tell some stars don’t really want to be there. However, Keanu is easily the most excited person in the chat, speaking passionately, jumping up and down, and tossing out details only someone who loved what he did would remember. Seriously, if you can, be as excited about what you do every day as Keanu is about Constantine.
During the conversation, the actor recounted with glee moments from the filming, remembering the names of crew members that even the director didn’t. even though this was a goofy comic book monster movie (how Warner Bros. saw it, at least), Keanu and the rest of them took it very seriously. Also, the image above shows the moment that Lawrence showed the camera “the holy Shotgun” from the movie, to which Keanu threw his hands up in delight.
Constantine IS a PG-13 Movie, but They ‘Got Screwed’ by the MPAA
image via Warner Bros.
One of the other defining things about the Constantine character in the comics is that he was part of the (now defunct) Vertigo imprint. Essentially, these were “rated-R” comic books with cursing, nudity, and other themes parents hate for kids to read about. Yet, due to a directive from Warner Bros., Lawrence was told to make the film a PG-13 film, because in 2005 R-rated movies didn’t make $1 billion. Yet, the film was rated R when it hit theaters.
Moderator Steven Weintraub asked if they tried to fight the rating. Goldsman and Lawrence said they did but noted that it was a lost cause. The former said that after about ten minutes of watching the film, the MPAA rated it a hard “R.” Lawrence followed a meticulous list for how to avoid an R-rating, involving violence, number of times they could say “f*ck,” and other suggestions. The MPAA however, gave it the R rating for “tone” and an “overwhelming sense of dread.” Neither of those things were on the list, but honestly, they should have put that quote on the poster. Lawrence lamented this, saying that if they knew they were going to be rated R no matter what, he’d have really “went for it” in terms of what they offered fans.
What about a Sequel?
image via Warner Bros.
The filmmakers said that while there was some talk of a sequel, it came more from them than Warner Bros. Constantine was a success when it debuted, especially bolstered by DVD sales. However, because of the film’s cost and R-rating, Warner Bros. decided not to go forward with a new movie. The post-credits scene (not a common thing with comic book movies at the time) revealed that Shia LeBoeuf’s Chas had become an angel, something a sequel would have expanded upon.
Goldsman also briefly mentioned a pitch for a sequel story that involved Constantine waking up in a cell with a prisoner who, ultimately, would have [turned out to be] Jesus Christ. Goldsman also said that they wanted to make a sequel that leaned into the hard R rating, gooverdreven met geweld, horror en waarschijnlijk wat ouderwets naakt plezier. Maar gezien het feit dat deze film goed is verouderd, kan een vervolg nog steeds mogelijk zijn. (Rotten Tomatoes verontschuldigden zich zelfs aan de film voor de lage kritische score.) “Ik denk dat we het waarschijnlijk morgen zouden redden,” zei Goldsman. Toch zei hij dat de film ‘een gevederde vis’ was, wat betekent dat het zo vreemd was dat de studio er geen toekomst voor kon zien.
Het 15-jarig jubileumpaneel van Constantine van Comic-Con Thuis is een van de leukste van het evenement
Afbeelding via Warner Bros.
Het Comic-Con Athome Experiment is vreemd geweest, maar het 15-jarig jubileumpaneel van Constantine is een van de beste die ze hebben gedaan. Veel van deze panelen lijden aan het gebrek aan publieks- of fan -energie (wat, denk ik, ook degenen op het paneel die erop reageert, schaadt). Toch is het trio van mensen die bij dit panel betrokken zijn, deze film zo dol op dat hun uitbundigheid door de video bloedt. (En een bloedend computerscherm klinkt als een soort van Constantine, om eerlijk te zijn). In tegenstelling tot veel retrospectieve panelen, die voor mensen al fans van de film zijn, werkt dit als marketing voor degenen die het niet hebben gezien.
Destijds waren sommige stripfans (inclusief je bescheiden correspondent) teleurgesteld dat ze het personage zo hebben veranderd. Nu we echter een strips nauwkeurige Constantijn hebben gekregen (en een andere waarschijnlijk onderweg is), kunnen we de Keanu Reeves -versie van het personage beter waarderen. Deze film maakte veel grote schommels, ziet er ongelooflijk uit en elk ondersteunend Castmember leverde een prijzenwaardige uitvoering.
Bekijk hieronder het volledige paneel:
Wat vind je van het 15-jarig jubileum Constantine Panel van Comic-Con thuis? Deel uw mening over de film in de reacties hieronder.
Uitgelichte afbeelding via Warner Bros.