Early Constantine Reviews

[ApathyMonger]

Like The Flash, the Constantine pilot is "out there" now. I figure a thread here to talk about it, like the one for The Flash?

 

Mods, if there's a problem, feel free to close.

[Lokiberry]

It was ok. I feel like they got the look and  the feel of Constantine right, but the writing was pretty pedestrian. The angel and the demons felt like the same schtick I've been watching since good old BtVS, This genre is tired, and needs to be reinvigorated with fresh new ideas. This show is not going to be the one to do it.

 

It was nice to see Lucy Grifftths again, though.

[Kaoteek]

Eh. Just like with The Flash, I've had some clear problems with that pilot. It was, indeed, perfectly acceptable television, which would have been right at home in a Supernatural season, but it had also some rushed editing (I'd bet it was a longer pilot, edited down to 45 minutes), uninspired writing, and uneven visuals & directing choices (I can't help but feel the overall production design & visual style is a bit bland & flat, esp. compared to other shows of this type, think Supernatural s1).

 

What bothered me more, though, was John Constantine himself. I don't know if it was the writing, the delivery, the accent or the overall look (w/ its brand new trench coat, and the blonde highlights), but I didn't really buy that John Constantine. It felt like... half-cosplay, half-trying too hard to look, act & be badass.

 

But it could have been worse. Still, nothing that hasn't been covered before, and probably better, by Supernatural & co.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Kaoteek

[Meredith Quill]

I liked it, it has potential. I'll be back.

[ApathyMonger]

I thought there were some good directorial touches, but it was fairly predictable on the whole. I think it suffers from the fact that Supernatural has been doing basically the same thing, influenced by the same material, for the past decade.

 

I rolled my eyes at the whole speech from the girl about how they needed to use their knowledge to help people, etc at the end. I'll watch again, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

[smree]

I thought there were some good directorial touches, but it was fairly predictable on the whole. I think it suffers from the fact that Supernatural has been doing basically the same thing, influenced by the same material, for the past decade.

 

I rolled my eyes at the whole speech from the girl about how they needed to use their knowledge to help people, etc at the end. I'll watch again, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

 

"Saving people, hunting things, the family business" went through my head a few times watching this :)

 

Not bad and will watch a few episodes and give it a chance. Silly thing but the highlighted hair just seemed ridiculous for the type of person he's supposed to be.

[ApathyMonger]

Not bad and will watch a few episodes and give it a chance. Silly thing but the highlighted hair just seemed ridiculous for the type of person he's supposed to be.

 

The character was originally based on Sting; that's where the hair comes from. It doesn't make much sense thirty years on.

[Baltron9000]

It was decent. Not too good, not too bad. The lady had some terrible acting that grated. All in all it smelled enough like Constantine to not get my fanboy ire up. 

Constantine checklist:
* He's a bastard - check
* Someone close to him dies - sorta check
* drowning our sorrows - check
* nobody likes him - check
* total badass plagued by his personal (and literal) demons - check 
I miss anything? 

[sparklemotion]

Hopefully the hair was a "this is a pilot, some things look weird" moment and they figured out to tone it down. Also hope we get a ton more Harold Perrineau (Manny) as the season progresses, he is a major fave for me... 

[Matt K]

I found it to just be okay.  But my main concern was the use of "magic" on the show.  There was no umph to what John was doing, he just mubled some words and it just seemed to work.  I'm hoping they do a better job once the series get going but that's one of ny big concerns.

 

Also the tag at the end was just crappy.  The effects were poor, the voice over was just not that great and the scene itself was kind of confusing (we're they just thugs or what and why was John there).

Edited July 3, 2014 by Matt K

[Danny Franks]

Appropriately creepy, as any iteration of Hellblazer should be. I've always found the idea of demonic possession to be a very potent form of horror, due to the fact that it's real, innocent people being subverted and forced to do evil. And honestly, I'm not at all embarrassed to say I liked the movie, Constantine. I thought it was pretty decent, and didn't get hung up on 'oh, Keanu Reeves looks nothing like Constantine. And he's American!'

 

And I think that movie did a better job of showing the relative subtlety of demonic activity within the everyday world than this pilot episode did. I felt it went too big, too early, with flaming craters and possessions. As Constantine himself said, "they never operate in the open like this". If he's forced to say that every week, then there's going to be a problem. Especially with the ropiness of the CGI in this pilot episode. I think less is going to be more.

 

The guy playing Constantine seemed to be trying a bit too hard to appear badass and insouciant, but it's often the case for pilot episodes. So I'm hoping he'll settle into the role. He had a strong presence, which goes a long way. Lucy Griffiths was cute as hell, and her American accent seemed passable. She had the thankless role of goggling in disbelief at everything, which never does anyone any favours.

 

As for the burgeoning odd-couple partnership (which will surely become loaded with UST, as mainstream TV requires), I'm okay with it. Yes, Constantine has always been more of a loner, but he needs someone to talk to other than Chaz and Manny. And the show needs to have some female presence beyond a doomed damsel of the week.

 

Sadly, I fear this show will be short-lived, I can't see it getting good ratings at all. But I'll be on board for as long as it gets.

[JayKay]

Finally watched this, and wow. I really enjoyed it. I had no idea that Liv was Lucy Griffiths, however. Between the accent and the eyebrows she was unrecognizable, though not in a bad way. I never would have guessed that she was the naggingly familiar young actress if I hadn't read this thread. But it's a surprise bonus because I liked her in Robin Hood and True Blood, too.

 

I don't generally like or watch Supernatural, so for me this show could fill a void. Coincidentally, that show was partially inspired by Hellblazer, since Castiel's look was based off of John Constantine's. The creep factor is high with this one. I had to watch the scene with the body bag violently thrashing around and then abruptly stopping when it heard the door twice. Yiiiikes. That scene would have benefited from not showing Thalia's possessed corpse on the ceiling, since I've seen that gag frequently though. The possessed wires were cheesy and the giant blue fire devil was also fairly Disney Channel, but I can deal with extra cheese if the show delivers large helpings of unsettling along with it.

 

Chaz could become a favorite. I can already tell. I'll be tuning in come fall. It can only get better from here, imo.

[ApathyMonger]

Huh, looks like they're going in a different direction already: 'Constantine's' Lucy Griffiths Exits NBC Drama

 

 

True Blood alum Lucy Griffiths has exited the network's adaptation of Hellblazer after the show's creators opted to move in a different direction, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

 

Constantine centers on master of the occult John Constantine (Criminal Minds' Matt Ryan), who struggles with his faith as he is haunted by the sins of his past and is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness.

Griffiths played Liv, the female lead and an offbeat woman who finds herself teamed with Constantine after she is marked for death by a powerful demon. With the ability to see the supernatural world among us, she becomes a key player in the battle between good and evil. NBC will not recast the role but instead add the character of Zed, a familiar name from the Constantine books. That character, a foil for the show's title character who becomes his right-hand woman, has not yet been cast. She will appear in an early episode of the series, with additional characters from Hellblazer and the occult DC universe to be introudced later. Zed will, however, be the first to appear.

[Danny Franks]

Well that's disappointing. I liked her character well enough, based on the pilot, and thought her normalness bounced off the oddity of Constantine and Chaz quite well. Also, Lucy Griffiths is cute as hell. But, moreover, this level of tinkering in a show, this late in the game? Not a good sign. Changing one or two secondary players? Sure. One of the leads? Uh-oh.

 

I haven't looked at many online reactions to the pilot, but I wonder if there's been a shedload of fanboy whining, to influence this decision.

[ApathyMonger]

I'm guessing they'll be pressed on the reasons for the change when they're at press tour next week. It'll be interesting to hear what they say.

[FurryFury]

I still haven't seen the pilot (isn't this a midseason show? No point in watching pilot so early), but I don't like this news :( I like Griffiths. I remember her in that atrocious Robin Hood show on BBC, and then True Blood. And yeah, narratively speaking, changing things, especially important things, so early isn't a good sign.

 

I suspect the show will live for 6 episode, tops, and then be cancelled.

Edited July 11, 2014 by FurryFury

[ApathyMonger]

I still haven't seen the pilot (isn't this a midseason show? No point in watching pilot so early)

 

October 24, which I think still counts as a fall debut.

[FurryFury]

Oh, I guess I've confused it with something else I was planning to watch. Still, months ahead. Not that crazy about the show to rewatch the pilot when it airs :)

 

Do you think they'll reshoot it to diminish Griffith's character's role? I heard she was made to be quite important in the overall scheme of things.

[ApathyMonger]

It doesn't sound like it. They said the new female lead will appear in an early episode just, but not straight away it seems. I'm not sure on the schedule, but they might have written a handful of episodes in which Liv is still part of the show already?

[themadman]

Yeah, way too much "seen this shit in Supernatural for years" feeling. The editing was weird with no breathing room and a very rushed episode overall. 

[TobinAlbers]

Haven't scene the original pilot but saw what I suspect is the tweaked version at NYCC.

After Liv sees the little boy's dead body they cut to a scene of John at a bar drinking and his friend comes in with the medallion saying that Liv has left town to go stay with a cousin because she's unable to deal with all the darkness that Constantine's world brings. John basically set it up for her to be scared away. Before she left she left a map marked with her blood of places of trouble/evil for John to follow up on. Manny appears again to snark at John for driving Liv away and John shuts him up by saying he'll help him on his cause. Then we cut to the next scene with the VO as John walks down the alley to take on the gang with his hand fireballs. The scene then fade to Zed (we only see her from behind) as she draws sketches of John then cut to black.

Part of me thinks this should've been on Showtime or Starz or Cinemax (since they're pushing for more edgy but legit original dramas) to allow them to go as dark as they need to go but as is it seems like this will be a good fit with Grimm but definitely needs to distinguish itself from the ground Supernatural has covered and dig into the dark and disturbing aspects of the world and John and the DC Comic lore. The moment that got a big response was the Dr. Fate helmet's appearance and John toasting the doppelgänger demon at the end due to it showing the power he can wield.

Edited to add: They're starting to shoot episode 10 so they're well into their initial 13 episode order.

Edited October 12, 2014 by TobinAlbers

[Danny Franks]

After Liv sees the little boy's dead body they cut to a scene of John at a bar drinking and his friend comes in with the medallion saying that Liv has left town to go stay with a cousin because she's unable to deal with all the darkness that Constantine's world brings. John basically set it up for her to be scared away. Before she left she left a map marked with her blood of places of trouble/evil for John to follow up on. Manny appears again to snark at John for driving Liv away and John shuts him up by saying he'll help him on his cause. Then we cut to the next scene with the VO as John walks down the alley to take on the gang with his hand fireballs. The scene then fade to Zed (we only see her from behind) as she draws sketches of John then cut to black.

 

 

That sounds like a really lame way to get rid of a character, after the rest of the pilot episode set her up as being important and central to both the show and the ongoing narrative. And given that I liked her in the pilot, and found Constantine himself rather underwhelming, I'm not sure I'll bother with this show.

[Eneya]

3 days... 3 days...
I can't wait. :)
Also... yes, the main actor needs to chill a lot and... I seriously don't get why they thought they have to use the visuals. It would have been a lot better, at least for me, to have it a lot more mundane and chilling by the simplest ways which could be done in stop-motion or use simply some post-production, not to depend so much on the grandiose.

Ah, well. We shall see. :)