I don’t generally enjoy on screen horror. I prefer suspense driven/thriller type horror, rather than traditional ‘ooh look there’s a scary thing… it’s going to kill us!’. There are exceptions, Buffy was awesome, I thoroughly enjoy Cabin in the Woods (suspiciously both Joss Whedon… hmmm). As Constantine is a comic book adaptation I decided to start reading Hellblazer before starting to watch Constantine; and I’m glad I did. Not because it let me see glaring errors, but because it showed me how good the show really is. The horror is not on the same scale as ‘American Horror Story’ for example, as I expect the network want to attract enough people to watch; which works for me as, like I said above, horror isn’t really my thing.
The tone is spot on, Matt Ryan is exceptional (the only issue being his accent is Manchester, rather than Scouse). One episode was straight out of the books and was done brilliantly. It fit in just right with very few changes. John Constantine is a character whose real talent is not that he is adept in magic (which he is), it’s that his real talent is lying so convincingly that he doesn’t always need to use magic. The overarching story is that John has been using magic for years, he has a dodgy past in England, and so is now living in America with his mate Chas. He meets a girl with powers to help track down demons, lost souls, or general magic going bad; then goes and sorts out the bad using a mix of magic and shouting. He has no time for people who can’t help him. He is not sympathetic to the victim, he is not doing it out of the goodness of his heart, he cannot help himself. He needs to know what is going on, for his own knowledge and to make up for an incident in his aforementioned dodgy past. Without going in to too much detail and let something slip, that’s basically it. The stories are a great mix of magic as it may be used in modern times; one story involves the Devil’s voice being captured on a record, which drives those who hear it mad. It’s a great idea and is executed brilliantly.
As is the case with most TV series, there was a lot of time between the pilot and episode 2 being filmed, so don’t be surprised when the apparent female lead, from the pilot, completely disappears and is not referred to from episode 2 onwards. The actress left the series and has been replaced by a new female character. The upside to this, is the new character, Zed, is from the books and has an interesting history with John. I will say no more, as her connection seems to be quite different in the show.
Chas has also changed, from just being a Taxi driver and Constantine’s best mate, to being a lot more involved in what is going on. There are one or two other changes, which I wont go into to avoid spoilers, but so far they are small and reasonable.
The only other thing worth mentioning, is the absurd US Network TV rules around showing smoking. A lot was made of the fact that Constantine would not be allowed to be seen smoking. John is a chain smoker, which does become a major plot point in some storylines. There was outcry from the fans, leading the network to say that John will be a smoker and they will get that across as best they can. How do they do this… they show him with a lighter, playing with cigarette cartons, putting out cigarettes at the beginning of scenes. At the end of the latest episode he puts an unlit cigarette in his mouth and lights it. This last one highlights how pointless the rule is… he is not allowed to be seen inhaling from a lit cigarette, but he can be seen putting one in his mouth and lighting it… how is that any different? The reason for the rule is not to glorify smoking and encourage young people to smoke… firstly, those old enough to watch Constantine are old enough to make there own decisions… and secondly, if you are aware of the plot revolving around his smoking, you would see that it is a massive anti-smoking ad. Granted, the show might not use that plot line soon, but hey will need to address it should the show get a second series. Lastly, if the network rules allow the character to be seen as clearly a smoker, and get so far as to show him light a cigarette then they might as well show him puffing…. Rant over!
– TL;DR –
The show is brilliant. Very close to the books. Constantine’s character and tone is spot on. Forget the Keanu Reeves film and watch this…
nanomyosu 