Constantine (The Series)

LOG · May 14, 2014

Tentatively hopeful. The character seems about right from what I remember of the Hellblazer comics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPE2oBnzROY

veinglory · May 14, 2014

Anything that helps me forget about the movie....

Rhoda Nightingale · May 14, 2014

What y'all said. The movie's a guilty pleasure for me--it's how I first met Tilda Swinton, after all--but this one looks much more in the spirit of the source material.

onesecondglance · May 15, 2014

I liked the movie, though it's always better in my memories than when I'm actually watching it.

I'll look out for this one, though who knows whether it'll make it to the UK.

GingerGunlock · May 15, 2014

Rhoda Nightingale said:
What y'all said. The movie's a guilty pleasure for me--it's how I first met Tilda Swinton, after all--but this one looks much more in the spirit of the source material.

This is exactly how I feel about the movie. I love it and it's awesome, but it isn't exactly good. And I never remember Tilda Swinton from anything else prior to it.

The trailer looks amazing, and I hope the series can live up to it.

elinor · May 15, 2014

Tilda Swinton is incredible in the movie Orlando (based on the novel). Still one of my favorite movies.

Manuel Royal · May 15, 2014

elinor said:
Tilda Swinton is incredible in the movie Orlando (based on the novel). Still one of my favorite movies.

Agreed; can't think of anyone else I would've cast.

I actually liked the movie, even though it got Keanu Reeves all over itself. Some of the imagery was striking. But I would like to see a version closer to the source material. (I don't know why so many perfectly good British stories are Americanized for a U.S. version. I love British stuff, and BBC-America is a popular cable channel.)

So, apparently this is going to be on NBC. Hm. Well, I'll give it a chance. (Though there are so many tv shows with supernatural elements now, each with its own elaborate mythology -- hard to keep track of. Pretty tired of the old Heaven and Hell, angels and demons thing. I'm gonna write a supernatural story with original creatures; not from Judeo-Christian mythology, or popular folklore, or anything familiar.)

veinglory · May 15, 2014

Swinton was great, but this TV series seems to have cast the central a character a hell of a lot better.

Shadow_Ferret · May 15, 2014

This is based on a comic book or something, right? I never saw the movie so I really know nothing about it.

AVS · May 15, 2014

Looks good.

GingerGunlock · May 15, 2014

Shadow_Ferret said:
This is based on a comic book or something, right? I never saw the movie so I really know nothing about it.

Yup, it's based on the Hellblazer comics. John Constantine (the main character) also made a cameo in the first Books of Magic comic, which was (I think?) the only one written by Neil Gaiman.

Rhoda Nightingale · May 15, 2014

^Also in one of the Sandman graphic novels--the first one, Preludes and Nocturnes. (Gah! I need to read the Books of Magic. I've heard only good things.)

All Vertigo, if I'm not mistaken.

RichardGarfinkle · May 16, 2014

GingerGunlock said:
Yup, it's based on the Hellblazer comics. John Constantine (the main character) also made a cameo in the first Books of Magic comic, which was (I think?) the only one written by Neil Gaiman.

Rhoda Nightingale said:
^Also in one of the Sandman graphic novels--the first one, Preludes and Nocturnes. (Gah! I need to read the Books of Magic. I've heard only good things.)

All Vertigo, if I'm not mistaken.

The character was originally created by Alan Moore during his run on Swamp Thing. He's supposed to look and sound like Sting.

When Hellblazer started I was skeptical because in many ways Constantine works best as a non-central character. He pokes and prods and snarks and gets others with more power to do what needs to be done.

He's a fantastic character when he's next to someone else. His interactions with Tim Hunter in Books of Magic were terrific.

Hyperminimalism · May 16, 2014

I'm ridiculously excited about this and can hardly wait for the show to premier. I've been a huge fan of the Hellblazer comics and John Constantine himself, and I'll admit, the movie was a let down. If they had cast someone other than Keanu, I think it could have been good, but he was so very wrong for the character and it ruined the movie for me. Though I agree that Swinton and Stormare were brilliant for Gabriel and Satan. With the show being closer to the source material, as mentioned, I think it has a fighting chance.

bearilou · Oct 24, 2014

Did anyone see the premiere tonight?

I'm a bit lukewarm over it. Going to wait to see if Max Ryan continues to overact and chew up the scenery. I didn't find that this first effort had much subtlety in the storytelling. A lot of it was over the top and just really over acted, I thought.

Maybe Ryan will settle down into the role.

JohnnyGottaKeyboard · Oct 25, 2014

I enjoyed it, though I agree it was very earnest. Nothing was underplayed. Felt very much as if they grabbed me by the arm and said COME ON! then proceeded to drag me through the story as fast and furiously as they could.

The main point: it sure beats Dracula!

Thuro · Oct 25, 2014

Never got into Constantine.Only saw the movie when I was a kid.

A question. Did they make him bisexual here?

RichardGarfinkle · Oct 25, 2014

I thought they did a good job. The actor (Matt Ryan) looks like John Constantine and sounds enough like he should to play him well.

I liked the story and the set up. The mood was good. One of the things I liked is that they didn't insist on an endless dark palette of colors. We see the bad stuff in many different lightings.

The portrayal of Constantine as simultaneously tortured and willing to get on with the job is spot on.

The supporting cast seems solid, and there's something American Gothicy about the plot set up.

<Comic Book Geek Info Dump>
American Gothic was a long plot arc in Swamp Thing that first introduced John Constantine as a character. This was during the period when Alan Moore was writing Swamp Thing.
</Comic Book Geek Info Dump>

There were a few bits here and there to make it clear that this is the DC supernatural universe. Doctor Fate's helmet for example. I'll be interested to see if they do anything serious with that.

All in all, I liked it and I'll give them a chance. He's a tough character to do right, and as I said above, he's tricky to use as a main character.

dragonjax · Oct 25, 2014

Missed the premiere; will have to catch it On Demand or via Hula. I am a sad panda.

Diana Hignutt · Oct 25, 2014

I know the guy Alan Moore based Constantine on (allegedly), a friend of mine, actually; so, I'm looking forward to seeing this if I should get the chance.

CoffeeBeans · Oct 25, 2014

RichardGarfinkle said:
There were a few bits here and there to make it clear that this is the DC supernatural universe.

I'll be interested to see if they do anything serious with that.

All in all, I liked it and I'll give them a chance. He's a tough character to do right, and as I said above, he's tricky to use as a main character.

I saw the premiere at NY Comicon, and they (David Goyer and Matt Ryan) did a panel after. They did say they had plans to do something with the item shown

I knew Constantine from the Hellblazer books in my early years (snuck out from the "mature" section of the comic shop, often scared the heck out of me. So. Many. Bad. Dreams.)

I'm hoping it gets a little darker after the pilot, but the Hellblazer stories are so weird/dark that I can see how it'd be hard to make it a network TV show. They also joked a lot about trying to sneak cigarettes into his hands in scenes, which I appreciated.

I thought it was a lot of fun, and even has a chance to become more Constantine and a little less "Yay fighting monsters and snark" show.

bearilou · Oct 25, 2014

Thuro said:
A question. Did they make him bisexual here?

Last I heard, that's a no.

It may have changed but I don't know more than that.

RichardGarfinkle said:
The portrayal of Constantine as simultaneously tortured and willing to get on with the job is spot on.

Hm. Frankly, I thought the portrayal was a little too in your face. From my read of the comics he wasn't quite so emotional on the outside. Tortured, for sure. Willing to get on with the job, yeeeah I guess. I just don't remember him being so eager to do so.

RichardGarfinkle said:
All in all, I liked it and I'll give them a chance. He's a tough character to do right, and as I said above, he's tricky to use as a main character.

He is a tough character and I think they got the look and the voice/accent right, which is why I'm willing to see where they go and what they do. Damn sight better than the movie, that's for sure.

I'm hoping to see a little more con man out of him.

Calla Lily · Oct 25, 2014

I'm ambivalent about this. I read two Hellblazer GNs and was so disgusted and squicked out that I had nightmares. That very seldom happens.

The movie might have been good if they hadn't cast Keanu One-Note-and-It's-a-Flat-One-at-That Reeves. I like Rachel Weisz and at the time Shia LeBoeuf wasn't a dirtbag thief and plagiarist.

I'll give the series one ep (will have to catch it On Demand)/

JohnnyGottaKeyboard · Oct 25, 2014

Thuro said:
A question. Did they make him bisexual here?

bearilou said:
Last I heard, that's a no.

Of course, they could always argue how hard it is to prove a negative. They DIDN'T show him punching a guy in the face for making a pass at him, and they included a few bits of vague dialogue that could be read into by those who like to do that sort of thing. But keep in mind this is a show from the same people who changed Leonardo DiVinci into a womanizing swashbuckler.

Manuel Royal · Oct 26, 2014

Not bad. Nice to see so many locations here in Atlanta (including, if I'm not mistaken, the Krog Street Tunnel).

Was that Dr. Fate's helmet? I know technically they exist in the same fictional universe, but it's odd to think that John Constantine could theoretically take I-85 out of Atlanta and visit Metropolis.

I generally find demons, spirits, magic, God, etc., to be pretty boring, so a show with a supernatural premise has to have good storytelling and characters to keep me interested.

Constantine (The Series)

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