Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Constantine 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Yankee swap.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 14, 2025

Wait, is Francis Lawrence's Constantine actually good? It's a question that has been asked more and more each year since 2005, when the film barely made a profit in theaters and sharply divided critics and comic book fans alike for its unusual subject matter and deviations from the source material. It arrived in a year heavy with comic book films from Sin City to Batman Begins and of course V for Vendetta, another DC/Vertigo book-to-screen project that struggled to connect with mainstream audiences. Constantine comes in fourth against these three but is still better than most gave it credit for, aided by several committed performances and visual effects that hold up surprisingly well.

For a full synopsis of Constantine, please see Martin Liebman's 2008 review of the Blu-ray. It's pretty clear he wasn't a fan (perhaps, like many, he might like it more now?) but I can't help but feel differently about this unusual supernatural thriller; it damn sure isn't a masterpiece, but it's at least pretty good and, in hindsight, was certainly part of the same class that paved the way for more successful genre films that followed it. From its clear noir influences to those sharp visual effects (seriously, all but maybe two or three of them hold up just about perfectly), Constantine quickly carves out a clear identity and maintains momentum most of the way. Could the script have used a bit more polish? Sure. But Constantine's tone is surprisingly almost dead-on; not without a few hiccups and unintentionally silly moments, but it almost fully embraces the "cynical smartass" mentality of its main character. That goes a long way.

The elephant in the room is Constantine's frustratingly uneven casting; it obviously begins with Keanu Reeves in the title role of John Constantine, who's decidedly not British or blond and clearly got the part based on Matrix mojo. While I dare say Reeves' performance is slightly above average for the decidedly one-note actor, I can see why it might be a turn-off for those strongly familiar with the film's source material. He personally at least partially won me over by the story's end, but I can't help but think that Constantine would've been better with someone else in the lead. This notion extends even more to Rachel Weisz as LAPD detective Angela Dodson and her dead twin sister Isabel, who's arguably duller and even less convincing than most critics thought that Reeves was but only kinda isn't. (At one point when she says "I'm a cop, John, remember?", I had actually forgotten.) Maybe it's the slightly patchy script's fault more than hers, but Weisz is almost always the weakest link in the chain and the film slightly suffers for it.

These one-and-a-half questionable performances wouldn't be as noticeable were it not for the rather brilliant casting of several supporting characters, from still-active Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale (as half-breed demon Balthazar) to the reliably great Peter Stormare, who plays his boss Lucifer. But Tilda Swinton might be Constantine's biggest standout as archangel Gabriel, as she absolutely nails the role and steals almost every scene she's in. All three (and several others including Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, and maybe even Shia LaBeouf) help to make up for some of the larger roles' weaknesses. Not fully, of course, but partially and in the same way that Constantine can be chalked up as an interesting take on the material that holds up better than expected in several areas but not in others.

This renewed appreciation for Constantine -- which is slowly building towards a belated sequel that's finally moving forward with planned participation from several major cast and crew members, including Reeves and director Lawrence -- has resulted in a solid new 4K edition from Warner Bros. celebrating the film's 20th anniversary. It can't quite be considered a definitive release but, like the main feature itself, is at least a little better than expected.

Packaging collectors should also note that a similarly 4K-only Steelbook is also available.

Constantine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: Since no Blu-ray is included, these screenshots are sourced from the 4K disc but have been downsampled to 1080p/SDR and should thus not be considered an accurate representation of the film's appearance on UHD.

This 2160p, HDR10 (Dolby Vision capable) transfer of Constantine is inarguably the 4K disc's biggest strength and, according to WB, was completed at their Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) facility and sourced from a recent scan of the original camera negative which was overseen by director Francis Lawrence. While director-approved transfers aren't always a signal of authenticity or perfection, this is a clear case where the film benefits as it looks to be a much more robust and healthy presentation than older home video releases. (For comparison's sake, the older Blu-ray is sourced from a much older master, encoded with the VC-1 codec, and runs at a shockingly low 11.88 Mbps.) This quite literally looks like a new film in every positive sense of the word, no longer shackled to inferior source elements or formats and finally allowed to breathe and showcase its reliably good visuals, from cinematography to visual effects. Fine detail is much more striking, textures are substantially more film-like, colors are perfectly rendered, and shadow detail looks quite good as well. Those effects blend in almost seamlessly too with no apparently signs of revisionism, lending the film a consistently strong appearance that suffers from no perceivable compression artifacts while running at a bit rate that regularly hovers in the 70Mbps+ range. As implied by the above description, its HDR pass does wonders for the colors and dynamic range, never pushing things too far while bolstering its strongest visual elements in a tasteful and very precise way. It's an easy 5/5 effort for sure, and one that fans will be enormously pleased with.

Constantine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner Bros.' superb Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix created for the Blu-ray was obviously a reference point for this new Dolby Atmos remix, and from that perspective the general overview of its many benefits can be found at the linked review. In short, it's an extremely active mix that's precise and aggressive yet appropriately nuanced during quieter moments. Atmos obviously adds more precision due to the object-based formatting and height channels which get plenty to do at key moments, but there's one problem: it's slightly overcooked and even borders on mild "brickwalling" during several stretches. Any music lovers who understand "the loudness wars" should know what that means... but for those that don't, the Atmos mix's volume levels are clearly higher than optimal levels by about 5dB which means that its loudest moments sound slightly blown-out. This seems to notably affect the lower end more than anything and can be partially smoothed over with a few slight adjustments, but it's still worth a full point deduction. Of course, this could have also been somewhat remedied by including the original mix as a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio option but sadly Warner Bros. didn't do that. (The studio has made progress in the audio department in recent years, but this is one example where they're going backwards.) That said, it's still a largely enjoyable mix yet one with room for improvement.

Optional subtitles in a variety of languages, including English SDH, are offered during the film and extras.

Constantine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with new artwork -- it's not awful, but WB continues to avoid using perfectly good poster designs for some reason -- and a matching matte-finish slipcover. The extras are plentiful and include one short new retrospective featurette flanked by an extensive amount of bonus content recycled from older home video releases; everything's listed below but detailed in Martin Liebman's 2008 Blu-ray review. Several are missing, though, including a picture-in-picture option during the film, a music video for A Perfect Circle's "Passive", and the theatrical teaser and trailer, as well as optional audio commentary during the deleted scenes.

• Audio Commentary #1 - Director Francis Lawrence and producer Akiva Goldsman

• Audio Commentary #2 - Screenwriters Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello

• NEW! Two Decades of Damnation (15:06) - This new retrospective featurette reflects back on Constantine's development, production, and growing legacy during the last 20 years. Supportive clips are plenty but there are also a good amount of recent on-screen comments from key cast and crew members including Keanu Reeves, producer Akiva Goldsman, actor Max Baker, production designer Naomi Shohan, and director Francis Lawrence, who goes into detail about the lengths he took to earn his first big-screen directing gig.

• Deleted Scenes + Alternate Ending (13 clips, 17:42 total)

Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes

• Channeling Constantine (8:00)

• Conjuring Constantine (15:43)

• Director's Confessional (5:45)

• Collision With Evil (4:39)

• Holy Relics (8:22)

• Shotgun Shootout (2:03)

• Hellscape (11:59)

• Visualizing Vermin (9:36)

• Warrior Wings (3:18)

• Unholy Abduction (5:47)

• Demon Face (2:01)

• Constantine's Cosmology (5:21)

• Foresight: The Power of Pre-Visualization (13:56)

• A Writer's Vision (1:18)

Constantine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Francis Lawrence's Constantine wasn't exactly greeted with warmth back in 2005 but has aged better than expected, though more so for its visuals and themes than performances which are still something of a mixed bag. That said, it's very much worth a re-evaluation and Warner Bros.' new 4K edition is a great way to do it, as the new 2160p/HDR10 transfer breathes new life into the film's already-potent atmosphere. The audio is a step or two behind and a few legacy bonus features are missing, but it's still a solid release that's worth picking up. Firmly Recommended.