Constantine (2005)

Somewhere in Mexico, a scavenger discovers the Spear of Destiny.  Immediately, he sets out north for Los Angeles.  He is unkillable, emerging unscathed when a car crashes into him.  Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) arrives at a low-rent apartment building to perform an exorcism.  To his surprise, the demon was attempting to crossover; that should not happen.  Through happenstance, he encounters police detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz).  Her twin sister, Isabel, recently committed suicide by jumping from a building.  Reviewing the footage, Angela hears her sister say, "Constantine." Together, Constantine and Angela use magic and rituals to discover why Isabel committed suicide and why demons appear on the brink of invading the Earth from Hell.

Constantine has a variety of sources and contacts: his driver/apprentice, Chas Kramer (Shia LeBouf), the witch doctor Papa Midnite (Djimon Hounsou), occult expert Beeman, and recovering alcoholic Father Hennessy (Pruitt Taylor Vince).  He also has a variety of weapons that are best suited to fighting demons and devils: dragon's breath, light incantations, flammable shroud, and the crucifix gun.  Despite the plentiful characters, the story managed to stay focused.  Constantine is a man destined to go to hell but lives his life by making enemies of its denizens.  Word is that Satan himself (Peter Stormare) will collect Constantine's soul.

Here is a post-Neo, pre-John Wick role for Keanu Reeves and it proves to be a perfect transition.  He still has knowledge and abilities beyond all others but is no longer a nigh invulnerable superhero in the Matrix.  Here he is world-weary, but still full of fight.  By the time we get to John Wick, he has tried to retire.

Reeves and Weisz have great chemistry but never get romantically involved.  Weisz didn't quite fit as an LA detective, but being more of a sidekick to Constantine, that didn't matter much.  LeBouf was better than expected.  His anxious manner and constant banter fit his character perfectly, for a change.  Tilda Swinton had another go at playing a male character, this time Gabriel.  Well, Gabriel is an angel.  In any case, she plays up the androgyny angle, reminding me of Orlando (1992).  Though her role is fairly small, she makes the most of it.  Peter Stormare would not have been my first choice for Satan, but proves to be ideal.  There is something off about him, his accent and manner, that gives him a creepy vibe.

Generally, lots of fun.  Too bad there wasn't a sequel.  Recommended.

The Favourite (2018)

Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) has fallen on hard times thanks to her dissolute father.  She opts to seek aid from her distant cousin, Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), who happens to be the current favorite of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman).  Sarah is married to the Duke of Marlborough, England's leading general in the War of Spanish Succession.  Taking pity on her cousin, Sarah places her in the kitchen.  Abigail is not content.  She is ambitious and sees opportunities to come to the queen's attention  Sarah soon finds that she has a rival for the queen's attention and her status as favorite might not be as secure as she thinks.

 

The movie is based on history though it is compressed for dramatic purposes.  Emma Stone is quite good as a sometimes sweet but more often conniving courtier.  Where Sarah had declined to destroy her cousin when she had the chance, Abigail was not so kind.  It is not quite as funny as the trailer led one to think it would be.  Yes, there are big laughs but mostly it is drama.  Abigail was fun early on but her treatment of her husband is hard to overlook.  She is the worst sort of gold digger and one has no sympathy for her hardships thereafter.

 

Sarah, as the victim of her own charity, comes off better though still not admirably.  Her manipulation of the queen is constant.  She wants the war to continue and bends the queen's ear in that direction.  She makes sure the queen is unavailable to meet with Harley, leader of the opposition in parliament, who wants to make peace with France before the war bankrupts the nation.  Sarah proposes tax increases to the queen and even drafts the bill.

 

The movie proposes lesbianism among the queen and her favorites.  There is no hinting; it is graphically shown.  Emma Stone has her first nude scene here.  Abigail wins the chase for favorite thanks to greater willingness to please the queen sexually.  This could have been completely excised and it would have improved the movie and not besmirch Lady Sarah or Queen Anne.  When I took English History at the University of Iowa, somehow Queen Anne's lesbianism wasn't mentioned.

 

Harley (Nicholas Hoult) steals every scene he is in.  He is a politician's politician, a matchless jerk, and a skilled manipulator.  He assists Abigail's rise because he doesn't like the war.  Sarah, whose husband fighting the war, has the opposite view.  He doesn't give a whit what Abigail wants except as far as it advances his goals.  He treats her with contempt and amusement.

 

Queen Anne ruled from 1702 to 1717.  She was only 49 when she died.  Her father was James II (1685-88), who was grandson of James I (1603-1625).  James I was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots.  Anne was the last of the Stuarts to rule, though several efforts to restore the line were made following her death.  The remaining Stuarts were barred from succession because they were Catholic, thus George I of Hanover succeeded Anne.

 

It has it's moments but fell well short of expectations.  However, it is far, far superior to Mary Queen of Scots.