CONSTANTINE (U.S. / 2005)

"Youre @#%$!" Thats what archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton at her most asexual) barks to John Constantine in Francis Lawrence's surprisingly entertaining Constantine. Adapted from -- you guessed it -- a "graphic novel," in this case a series belonging to DC Comics/Vertigo called "Hellblazer," it features Keanu Reeves as the title character: a selfishly doomed urban-warrior who is trying to atone for his sins. Constantine is destined to go to hell (which curiously looked like Los Angeles on a very hot day) because he once attempted suicide due to the fact that he was born with a special ability to locate the half-breed angels and demons among us -- and now, he drives around LA with his cabby friend (Shia LaBeouf) to perform tax-free exorcisms on the "bad" in order to earn a ticket into heaven. Early on in the film, a "Spear of Destiny" gets discovered in Mexico which is soon followed by a suicide of a female patient who had something in common with Constantine. Her twin sister, a devoutly catholic cop (the serenely beautiful Rachel Weisz), investigates the matter, and she eventually ends up crossing paths with Constantine. They discover that the precious balance between good and evil is starting to tilt in the wrong direction.

Director Francis Lawrence makes full use of his music-video background and unleashes some eye-popping visuals in Constantine (cinematography and production/creature design are also top notch). But, thankfully, the film doesnt just move from one set-piece to another, allowing us to spend some time with the characters even though what comes out of their mouths is mostly gibberish. A chain-smokingly noirish Keanu Reeves is riveting to watch (yup, thats right), even when he seems to be channeling the obsessive twitchiness of Nic Cage. He invigorates the film with his sardonic deliveries and especially by parodying his "Matrix" persona thus letting us in on the joke (something the final two installments of "The Matrix Trilogy" failed to do, and thus ended up collapsing under their own weight). Constantines mysticisms and theologies are convoluted to the point that they shouldnt offend anyone, but I have been wrong before. Peter Stormare shows up late as "Lou" (Lucifer, that is), and almost saves the films preposterous finale with his snaky charm, although I was disappointed that Steve Buscemi didnt came as "you know who." But all in all, Constantine is a big, bold, and nasty piece of work featuring B-movie energy that has so often been missing from Hollywood in recent years. I probably havent had this much "fun" since HellBoy (2004), and one thing is for sure: there are no guilty pleasures.

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*Available on DVD in the U.S. (Warner).