Recently I went through and read the entire (modern) catalogue of Hellblazer and rewatched The Matrix. So… let’s give the 2005 Constantine film another try!

John Constantine: Detective. What if I told you that God and the devil made a wager, a kind of standing bet for the souls of all mankind?

Angela Dodson: I’d tell you to stay on your meds.

John Constantine: Humor me. No direct contact with humans. That would be the rule. Just influence. See who would win.

Angela Dodson: Okay, I’m humoring you. Why?

John Constantine: Who knows. Maybe just for the fun of it. No telling.

Angela Dodson: Oh, so it’s fun? It’s fun when a man beats his wife to death? It’s fun when a mother drowns her own baby? And you think the devil is responsible? People are evil, Mr. Constantine. People.

John Constantine: You’re right. We’re born capable of terrible things, but then sometimes something else comes along and gives us just the right nudge.

Angela Dodson: Well, this has been real educational, but… I don’t believe in the devil.

John Constantine: You should. He believes in you.

Watching this back to back with The Matrix is an amusing choice. Keanu Reeves is great… but he’s very similar in the two. In one, he knows about another world consumed with war between man and machine–in the other, he knows about another world consumed with war between Heaven and Hell.

Still, I quite enjoyed it. It’s a good action flick with some neat philosophy on vaguely related to any real world beliefs (where it fits). Reeves as great, Shia LaBeouf is somewhat underused. Tilda Swinton as Gabriel is awesome and Peter Stormare is suitably terrifying.

Overall, not really the same Constantine as the comics (or the show(s) for that matter), but a very alternate version. Up towards the top of my movies for the year.

Random side note: I don't think sacrificing himself should have counted, if we're going by Catholic teaching. It's still a Mortal Sin.