Constantine

This week's movie rental was Constantine ...

a 2005 American superhero horror film .... loosely based on the DC Comics/Vertigo Comics Hellblazer graphic novels. The film stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, a cynical exorcist with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true forms and to travel between Earth and Hell. Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stormare also feature.

I had seen it once before but didn't remember much about it, so I gave it another try. It's basically religious horror, which is the kind of movie I tend to find most scary ... The Prophecy, Fallen, and The Seventh Sign are other examples of the genre.

The plot. The main character, John Constantine, is an exorcist (not a priest). He helps people in a bid to save himself from someday going to hell - when he was a teen he committed suicide and was dead for 2 minutes before he was resuscitated. A devout Catholic (Rachel Weisz) asks him to find out if her twin sister really killed herself and is therefore in hell. With the help of her cat, he is able to visit the underworld.

The movie was actually pretty good. Keanu Reeves did well and there were decent special effects, like Gabriel's wings ...

The one thing that bugged me was the Catholic "you're going to hell" storyline. A couple of the characters commit suicide, and it's just accepted in the film that they will end up in hell.

This is another created-rom-whole-cloth teaching from the church (thanks a lot, Augustine/Aquinas). There's nothing about suicide being a mortal sin in the Bible. Jesus never mentions it. But for centuries suicides were excommunicated and not allowed Christian burial. I can only imagine the needless grief this caused their loved ones.

Nowdays people who commit suicide are usually considered by the church to be out of their minds and not responsible for their deaths. Apparently the movie guys didn't get that memo.

But I digress. The movie is worth a watch if you like religious horror, and I see that a second installment with Keanu Reeves is coming next year.