The Desert of the Real

Went to see Constantine last night with a couple friends. I had not originally planned on going to see it…especially since it stars Reeves, but this involved friends and free tickets. ;-) Those two things can generally redeem a poor movie.

Well, to be honest, I was quite surprised. I have to say, I think Reeves did a pretty good job in this flick, and pulled off the lines, and the character, well. The movie had an interesting premise, and he and Rachel did a fair job with their respective characters. However, I’m sorry to say the movie itself wasn’t all that great.

There was a really weak backstory. A couple of the primary characters you get almost no information about. There’s no why, no purpose to the movie, or to most of the characters. The movie is about balance between the two sides and nearly hits you over the head with it, but yet is imbalanced itself, as the only side you ever see any action from is the demons. Where are the angellic ‘half-breeds’? It’s difficult to care about the opposing sides in the conflict, or the majority of the characters, and the story does little to really draw you in. The movie starts out fairly dark, and if they’d kept that pace and feel, and developed things better I think it could’ve been a better movie. It doesn’t though, and towards the end in particular there seems to be some rather out of place light-hearted humor, especially from “Lou” that killed the mood the movie seemed to be trying to create.

The movie, as I understand it, is based on a comic book by DC Comics. I don’t know anything about the comic itself however, so I won’t comment on it in that regard. As for its theological implications…they’re typical. Constantine says: “God is a kid with an ant farm, there’s no plan.” Yet, when stepping outside he comments on the rain and attributes it to God’s poor sense of humor. Curious that.

There is also the expected focus on Man’s free will, and how we choose our fate. Choose repentance and absolution, etc. God and satan are enemies, but equal somehow. Not actually opposing each other on this ‘plane’ by agreement. Nothing really revolutionary, or noteworthy here. Lots of religious imagery, but no real explanation of its significance within that universe. The Christian worldview is really nothing more than a jumping off point for this movie, providing a backdrop for the characters somewhat, but that’s all.

All in all, I’m glad it was free, and that I was in good company, or those 2 hours would’ve been a near total waste. Might be worth seeing on DVD just to see Reeves do a decent job in an acting role.

Gee, you’d think someone would’ve predicted this.

Oh wait, that’s right, many of us did. So, now it’s come out that we were right, and that SPF wasn’t worth spit. So are they eating crow? No, of course not, they’re so enamored of themselves and their little idea that they can’t conceive of the fact that’s completely worthless.

I can’t wait to see half-baked idea they come up with next.

Never mind links like this one! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Note that even on this site—which based on some of the other information you would think would know better—they call the folks participating in this ‘extremists’. I wonder, what percentage of a particular group has to participate in a behavior before it becomes attributed to the core of the group, and not to the fringe? Yes, I realize that muslims in countries that are not predominately muslim (like america, and europe [for now]) do not go around killing Christians, or others who dare to question their beliefs. (Though, if the allegations in this case prove true, even that is no longer the case) but in Muslim countries they do. As a rule, not as an exception.

This is a belief inherent to the Muslim faith, it is not something some wacked out lunatic fringe came up with and added to it. It is a central part that Muslim’s in other parts of the world have to stay their hand in. Or at least be more covert about.