Constantine: An Antihero

An Antihero is a character that has all the potential to be a Hero but has so many flaws it does not really meet all the "requirements" to be considered a hero.

Take Constantine (Keanu Reeves) for example who has knowledge of the Dark Arts which he uses to exorcise demons and other such beings, from this plane of reality. He actually helps innocent people but really he does not give a damn. He mostly cares about himself  though relatively because he smokes all the time to the point that his health is seriously threatened by this habit of his. To make matters worse he has no friends on Earth,  or Heaven and the Devil himself hates him so much he is waiting Constantine's death to retrieve his soul personally.

When the movie begins Constantine is already an expert in what he does (one of the flaws of this film since we do not get much info about his origins) and we see him performing an exorcism of sorts. Later on he is contacted by detective Angela Dodson who is investigating the death of her twin sister, Isabel, who apparently committed suicide. Contantine first refuses but when he finds out demons are chasing her down he decides to help. It turns out that Angela and her sister had Constantine's ability to see angels and demons, but while Angela denied that ability Isabel accepted it. Mammon, name of Lucifer`s son is secretly intending to take over Earth but for that he needs a ritual to be performed and certain other things: The Spear of Destiny, the spear that was used by Longinus to hurt Jesus in the cross, a person with abilities such as Constantine's to serve as a portal between realities and the assistance of one of God's agents who is in this case the archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinston). Mammon already has the Spear and Gabriel's agreement since he believes that by doing so is actually helping God. That explains why Isabel committed suicide so as to stop Mammon from using her. 

Constantine will help Angela and in the end that will end up with him confronting forces of Heaven and Hell. And here is one of my favorite moments of all time: to spoil Mammon's plan who is about to succeed, Constantine cuts his wrists so Lucifer appears. Before being taken Constantine informs him of Mammon and Gabriel's complot of which the Devil takes care immediately. In exchange for that favor Lucifer grants Constantine one  last wish and Constantine for the first time in his life asks something for someone else and asks for the release of Isabel's soul so she can go to Heaven. The Devil then starts dragging Constantine but suddenly he becomes extremely heavy. It is revealed that this act of sacrifice has made Constantine worthy and the gates of Heaven are opening  to welcome him. Lucifer is enraged (he does hate Constantine!) so in the last moment he plunges his hands into Constantine's lungs and takes out all the tar (two enormous lumps) actually saving his life so Constantine can continue on Earth and can sin again to become once more unworthy.

John Constantine is a comic character created by Alan Moore, the creator of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and a property of DC comics (the same company that owns Superman and Batman) and his stories have largely been published under the Vertigo imprint. The movie deserves to be seen but undoubtedly Constantine's stories, which are published do too.

Four stars out of five for this one.