Director: Francis Lawrence, US, 121mins
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Shia LaBeouf
On general release

A dark and terrifying force is poised to strike a chill into the souls of an unsuspecting humankind. But enough about Keanu Reeves’s acting. Reeves sucks in his cheeks and strikes iconic Neo-like poses as John Constantine, the chain-smoking vigilante patrolman of the borders of hell.

As a teenager, Constantine’s visions of demons drove him to attempt suicide, only to be resuscitated. But even a botched suicide is a deal breaker for the Catholic Church, so now he is trying to whittle away at his eternal damnation by protecting our souls from demon half-breeds. Not, you understand, because he cares one whit for our souls; just to buy time.

This over-styled silliness ought not to work. Horribly acted, even Reeves looks good next to LaBeouf’s sidekick and Gavin Rossdale’s orange-faced devil spawn. But perhaps Warner Bros traded a few souls, because Constantine is devilishly good fun, in a Catholic guilty pleasure kind of way.

Wendy Ide

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