Constantine is pretty good

That says it all. Saw it a preview last night and I liked it quite a bit. Slightly tedious in the third act but recouped pretty quickly, and it didn't pander on the love-interest part. Plus Keanu was at his best, too. The boyfriend and I agree that Dominic West or someone equally dark and brooding (yet sexy! don't know who he is? watch The Wire) would be better, but I thought K did a good job. Rachel Weisz kicks ass as well.

The director, Francis Lawrence (key fact: First feature, and has directed Ms. Britney Spears in her music videos!! gasp!!) patiently answered questions from the crowd and noted that a key character got cut out, in fact, about 45 min got cut out, but he had the good sense to do so for story reasons. (The character he cut was a sexy demon that Constantine slept with, and he said somehow Constantine wouldn't seem dark and alone if he was...sleeping with sexy demons.)

Now I'm eager to read the comic, even though according to those who know the movie deviates quite a bit. From my perspective--unfamiliar to the Hellblazer series--the movie was pretty darn good. That's about all you can expect from action flicks these days, I guess.

Oh, and the fabulous Tilda Swinton's in it. As the angel Gabriel, no less. That alone worth price of admission.