I am an avid visitor on Reddit.com, a site that revolves around what's new online/in the world. To add to this description, the people who post on Reddit are (for the most part) very intelligent and share many interesting opinions. Anyway, frequent posts these days encompass a rather morose looking photo of Keanu Reeves (the one that is being shown above). Now I have nothing against Keanu Reeves as a person. He's a very handsome man and seems quite nice. He also apparently knows kung-fu, which I think is pretty fantastic. As an actor, however, I'd have to say he's a bit lacking.
A few nights ago, I watched "Constantine". It's based on Vertigo Comic's Hellblazer. Set in Los Angeles, John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a chain-smoking cynic, has the power to see half-angels' and half-demons' true forms. He seeks salvation from eternal damnation in Hell for a suicide attempt in his youth, by sending half-demons back to where they came from with the help of his trusty sidekick Shia LaBeouf (known as Chas in the film). However, full demons have begun crossing over, taking possession of human bodies in preparation for the arrival of the Devil's son, who will institute chaos in the world. Constantine saves the day by slitting his wrists and informing Lucifer of his son's plans to conquer Earth. Lucifer then sends his son back to Hell to stop him from conquering Earth before he does. In the end, Constantine is cured of his lung cancer, and in the final scene is shown switching from cigarettes to gum. Aside from the unintentionally hilarious theological mumbo-jumbo, it's basically "The Exorcist" meets "The Matrix", only with very dull dialogue and situations. All in all, it was a ponderous bore and as David Denby said in his article "Devilment", it "turns wonders into garbage". Reeves' acting doesn't help either. It was his largest departure in my opinion, his most epic failure as an actor (not that he hasn't failed before. Remember how he single handedly ruined Shakespeare in "Much Ado About Nothing?")
Despite all this, we continue to love him. His acting is dry and unbearable at times, yet we can't stop watching his movies. It must be a Jedi Mind Trick.
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