Angela Dodson: Well, this has been real educational, but … I don’t believe in the devil.
John Constantine: You should. He believes in you.
– Constantine (2005)
Unlike now, comic book adaptations used to be far less prevalent and didn’t worry so much about accuracy. Primarily, the aim was to entertain. In 2005, audiences were given Constantine, a first-time feature directorial debut from Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2; Red Sparrow) and starring Keanu Reeves (The Matrix; John Wick) as the Vertigo Comics antihero John Constantine. The character was created by Alan Moore (Watchmen), Steve Bissette (The Saga of the Swamp Thing), and John Totleben (The Saga of the Swamp Thing) as a mystical support for the established hero Swamp Thing. The film version lacking the trademark blonde hair and British background of the then 20-year-old character had those in the know already set to disregard the film and it would be similarly poorly-received critically (currently holding a 46% with 224 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes). But, like the titular character, the film wouldn’t go down without a fight and has earned itself a strong fan base. So much so that 20 years after the theatrical release, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) is releasing a brand-new remaster of Constantine on 4K UHD with HDR and a 7.1 Dolby Atmos audio track, accompanied by the previously available special features and a new featurette commemorating the remaster.
Keanu Reeves as John Constantine in CONSTANTINE. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Photo not representative of restoration.
A psychiatric patient commits suicide, a demon possesses a girl in hopes of crossing over, and a discovery in Mexico imbues a man with seemingly preternatural powers and purpose — three incidents which appear disconnected, but actually are pieces on a divine chessboard being moved into position. In the middle of it all is John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), sorcerer of high arcane talents, charmer of men and women, absolute bullshit artist and con-man. With assistance from colleagues new and old, Constantine will try to deduce who’s behind the machinations that seek to upend the balance on Earth before it leads to the end of the world. Or, in Constantine’s view, just another day at the office.
If, like this reviewer, the opportunity to watch Reeves have a tête-à-tête with Peter Stormare’s (John Wick: Chapter 2) Lucifer or semi-flirt with Rachel Weisz’s (The Mummy (1999)) Detective Angela Dodson is always time well spent, then your interest level is high as to whether the 4K UHD edition is worth the pick-up. So, let’s start there.
Keanu Reeves as John Constantine in CONSTANTINE. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Photo not representative of restoration.
First of all, from the press release itself, “[t]he 4K restoration of Constantine was completed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) and was sourced from the original camera negative. The restoration was overseen by director Francis Lawrence.” Unlike other previous 4K UHD editions released by WBHE, this one isn’t just being churned out to squeeze funds from a hungry home-viewing audience. Knowing that Lawrence oversaw the restoration/remastering process implies that everything about the presentation is how he wants it. We’ll get into the lone new featurette shortly, but the language used by Lawrence does support this conclusion. Though one does go into a mainstream release with an expectation that a new edition may not have the same supervision process as a high-end boutique like The Criterion Collection (which frequently uses stickers to advertise who supervised the restoration/remaster), finding out that Constantine received this level of care is more than appreciated. Thankfully, the video and audio experience of this version lives up to the notion of Lawrence’s own approval. The details are sharper than ever, the colors are simultaneously more realistic and grounded while also providing more support for the hyperrealism of the religious elements, and the sound (though not immersive) certainly packs a wallop in the scenes that matter. Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (Sherlock Holmes; The Nice Guys) already paints the world of Constantine in varying shades of brown, bronze, and red to give the world a subtle “on fire” feel amid the earthiness during daytime shots and a pale blue color during the night shots, but the inclusion of the HDR makes the colors pop even more, creating a beautiful color temperature regardless of the action (the fight with Gavin Rossdale’s (Zoolander) Balthazar) or drama (the death of Pruitt Taylor Vince’s (Identity) Father Hennessy) before us. It doesn’t improve some things that didn’t look great in the theater (the rubbery look of Jesse Ramirez’s (Sicario) body when his “scavenger” is struck by a car shortly after finding the Spear of Destiny), but it certainly doesn’t look worse. Now, the EoM office doesn’t have Atmos capability, but the way the sound comes through the 5.1 surround system is crisp and clean, and the way the wind howls around in the various sequences in which Hell comes into play may make one pull their coat just a little tighter around them.
L-R: Keanu Reeves as John Constantine and Rachel Weisz as Angela Dodson in CONSTANTINE. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Photo not representative of restoration.
From a technical perspective, it’s worth noting that the video bitrate primarily sits between 65-75 Mbps for the majority of the film, with a few drops into the 50s and the occasional rise to 80-100. While the ideal disc would have an on-disc presentation in the 100s to take advantage of the storage space on a 4K UHD disc, the fact that the disc holds not just one new featurette but also the previously released special features means that precious space is used for all the old materials. This isn’t a Last Christmas situation where the bitrate was dangerously holding around HD levels for the majority of the presentation, so that’s a plus, but a lot of this could’ve been avoided if WBHE would go back to including a Blu-ray with the 4K UHD disc or would only put the new materials on the disc. While having all the special features together is, from this cinephile’s perspective, fantastic for deeper exploration of a film, if the intent of this release is to give Constantine the best on-disc presentation possible, shuttering the old features or including them elsewhere would better serve that goal.
Speaking of the special features, the new featurette, “Two Decades of Damnation,” really is brand-new. Rather than cobbling together old or unseen materials, WBHE pulled together Lawrence, Reeves, and other members of the cast and crew to talk about the experience of shooting the film. Lawrence talks about how he just barely got the job (Reeves was the last individual to approve), Reeves talks about the physical elements of the character and how they informed the performance, there’s discussion of different sets and sequences, and even how Stormare’s presentation of Lucifer was entirely the actor’s idea. We get a mix of behind the scenes still and video shots in between and in support of whatever the individual speaking is talking about, offering brand new insights into the film which has just grown with audiences over time. On the 4K UHD disc, the remaining featurettes are carried over from the previously released Blu-ray, but be advised that, if you access the digital edition, the featurettes “Director’s Confessional” and “Demon Face” are locked to the physical edition.
At the time of its release, I can safely say that this pretty devout DC Comics reader was totally unfamiliar with John Constantine and, therefore, was completely unbothered by the inconsistencies with the source material. The film noir elements of the story, wrapped as they are in the supernatural, work a great deal, the three threads of the film coming together in a supremely satisfying way. Of course, thanks to actor Matt Ryan with his single-season Constantine (2014) program, five seasons of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (2016-2022), several other appearances throughout other Arrowverse programs and several DC Animation films, not only is my knowledge base larger now, so are those of general audiences. Watching Reeves’s take with all of that in the back of the brain makes one realize why audiences then struggled to accept this interpretation, yet, one can’t help but be taken in by it. Reeves gives Constantine a depth, but also a distance, so that when he tells Angela she needs to be fully submerged in water in order to crossover for “as long as it takes,” it’s as much a clear and specific answer as it is a mystery. It’s only when she starts to drown and her face contorts from confusion to horror that we realize that the stoic delivery from Reeves is meant as much to keep her calm as anything because telling her she needs to drown will only increase her anxiety. It’s the sort of bullshit Constantine, the Hellraiser, would do because it gets the job done. Another smart thing that one notices is in the handling of magic, something which Constantine is supposed to be an incredible user of, yet Reeves’s take relies heavily on tools instead. Watching it then, audiences familiar with the character likely hated this approach, yet, the script from Kevin Brodbin (The Glimmer Man) and Frank A. Cappello (Suburban Commando) on purpose shows us Constantine’s declining health through this specific adventure to the point that he’s barely able to use the magic he does to reveal Tilda Swinton’s (Asteroid City) Gabriel in the final act. This Constantine has been saving his strength, waiting to use his magic, because he knows it’ll be a Hail Mary. It may not be a comic-accurate film, but it’s smart enough to create rules that it follows from start to finish. This is what, in addition to a marvelous payoff of a throwaway line regard John being “… the one soul he’d [Lucifer] come up here to collect himself,” causes people to return to the film over the last 20 years. It’s solid entertainment.
There are a lot of reasons for cinephiles and physical media fans to be skeptical about a new 4K UHD edition, especially for a film so recently released in the wide history of cinema. Not everything needs an upgrade, and sometimes the upgrade is merely upscaling and not actually a restoration or remaster. Between the bitrate and the on-disc presentation, it’s clear that Constantine doesn’t fit that bill. It’s a solid and worthy edition that will delight fans and newbies who come to it by presentation alone. That said, if you’re happy with the HD presentation on your Blu-ray, the information you get from the 15-minute featurette isn’t going to be so revolutionary that you’ll feel like missing out if you can’t see it. Reeves’s enthusiasm for the project is certainly infectious (but when isn’t it? The man loves movies!) and that can be felt throughout the new featurette, but is that enough to warrant the snag? That comes down to personal preference, of course, but the recommendation here is that this is a restoration/remaster that will surprise you, so fans of the film won’t feel gnarly for picking it up on release. However, those who are comfortable with their HD copies should absolutely wait for a sale before catching up.
“I guess there’s a plan for all of us. I had to die – twice – just to figure that out. Like the book says, He works His work in mysterious ways. Some people like it. Some people don’t.”- John Constantine (Keanu Reeves)
Personally, especially by the way Reeves and Lawrence talk in the featurette, I’m still holding out hope for a follow-up story. Would be cool for Ryan to receive the same treatment in the new DCU, but, barring that, if this release were to set up a Constantine 2 announcement, I wouldn’t be mad.
Constantine Previously Released Special Features:
4K UHD and Digital Features
- *NEW* Two Decades of Damnation (15:03)
- Commentaries
- Channeling Constantine
- Conjuring Constantine
- Holy Relics
- Shotgun Shootout
- Hellscape
- Warrior Wings
- Unholy Abduction
- Demon Face
- “Foresight” The Power of Pre-Visualization
- A Writer’s Vision
4K UHD Only
- Director’s Confessional
- Demon Face
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray and digital February 18th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Constantine webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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