Director: Doug Murphy
Writers: J.M. DeMatteis, Steve Bissette
Stars: Matt Ryan, Damian O’Hare
1 hour, 30 min.
We start out in a mental institution. He makes a bunch of plants grow, and then screams that he can’t stop using the magic. Then the credits roll.
We eventually figure out that the previous scene happened sometime in the past, and it seems to be mostly irrelevant to the present-day story. At home in his apartment, John Constantine is attacked by a bunch of tiny demonic versions of himself from his own subconscious, but he swats them away easily. He meets up with Chaz, a friend whom he hasn’t seen in nine or ten years, possibly that time in the institution. Today, Chaz’s daughter is in a coma, and he believes it’s related to something demonic. John does a quick test, and yes, she is very influenced: her soul is gone. He summons the Nightmare Nurse to assist in the girl’s hospital room. After a quick communication from the demon who did this to the girl, they get an address from it, and John and Chaz go to investigate.
They arrive in Los Angeles, and soon notice a newspaper headline that states there are 23 new coma cases. The Nightmare Nurse learns from Chaz’s ex-wife the story of what happened years ago to John and Chaz when they were in Newcastle: John released a demon that killed a bunch of innocent bystanders and threw an innocent girl into Hell. That’s how he ended up in the asylum.
Meanwhile, John and Chaz are exploring LA, but John notices that people’s eyes are glowing when they see him, as if something is using people to watch him. They meet Mr. Beroul, a huge demon who has lured them there to remove his “business” competition. On the way back to town they’re attacked by devil dogs sent by one of Beroul’s enemies: It’s a kind of demon-mobster skirmish.
Commentary
There are a lot of things you can do visually in animation that wouldn’t be practical or affordable with a live action film, and this film does a lot of those things. The trick with animation is to use the freedom of animation, but to not get too childish or cartoony with the story. It’s a fine line, and while there are some adult ideas here, you know they were hedging things because DC Comics’ cartoons tend to draw a young-ish crowd.
The problem with a magical character like Constantine is that he’s fully trained and seems to know everything. When he needs a demon to fight for him, he summons one. If he needs a magical widget, he just conjures one. I’m not saying he doesn’t have challenges, but there are so many problems can be solved by pulling something out of his ass that it gets old fast. This is one of the reasons so many superhero films are origin stories; once the character is too comfortable with their powers, the story loses a lot of what makes it interesting.