It has been awhile since I blogged, so let's see if I can remember how to do this.
I went and saw Constantine with a buddy of mine last night. Awesome movie. Certainly not for everyone though. Given my propensity for comic book movies, I decided that this one looked cool enough to see on the big screen. Unlike most of the comic movies that come out, I have had no prior experience with Constantine. I realize that it is a challenge to take years of comic book lore and turn it into a 2 hour movie. I don't know if the movie did the Hellblazer comics any justice, but to the casual observer the movie was terrific. Here is a synopsis from the official Constantine site:
John Constantine has been to hell and back.
Born with a gift he didn’t want, the ability to clearly recognize the half-breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human skin, 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 sending the devil’s foot soldiers back to the depths.
But Constantine is no saint. 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 reprieve.
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 (also played by Weisz), 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 otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.
Everything about this movie is cool. The story and the visuals make it very appealing and a great ride. The fact that there is so much Christian history in it is also attractive. The central artifact in the movie is called the Spear of Destiny, in other words, the spear that pierced the side of Christ.
But don't think for a minute that the movie is going to reveal any spiritual truths to you or is by any stretch of the imagination a "Christian" movie. John Constantine can see the angels and demons that reside on this plane in the movie, and the themes are all spiritual, but that is about the end of it.
What I always find intersting is how people say this is a movie to make you "think". Think about what? A Christian site I came across gave a good review of Constantine, and said that the film won't satisfy all your theological questions, but will make you think:
This film won’t satisfy all of your theological questions, but it can certainly provoke you to perhaps look more closely at significant spiritual issues. They are not always simple to bring up and talk about, but this movie is an entertaining way to get you thinking about them and perhaps start discussing them.
Maybe for some of you that don't believe in God or have faith in Jesus Christ, you might think about some of this stuff. Even Christians that see it might think about this stuff. Personally, I am not going to think about any of this.
I have heard people I know talking about the Matrix movies as some sort of spiritual allegory that made them "think". I know a local pastor that does a talk about the Christian parallels in The Lord of the Rings (not a stretch like the Matrix because Tolkien was a Christian). I guess I am not wired that way because I found The Matrix a good entertaining movie. No spiritual journey there for me. No thinking on any higher level than that the bullet-time effects were wicked cool. The Lord of the Rings is a monumental story about good versus evil. If that makes you think about God, Heaven and the like, I am glad for you. I just watched a moving epic film. It is not going to encourage me to think about "bigger" things. But if it makes you start thinking about Heaven and Hell and God, start thinking.
Well, now that I got that out of the way, Constantine gets a full price of admission. It is the kind of film that you will want to see more than once to completely follow all that is going on.
And maybe get you to thinking...
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