I thought that's what that was.
The reference was cool, but the entire pilot left me feeling lukewarm at best. The female lead was awful (can't tell if it was the actress or just bad writing), the dialogue overall was clunky, and way too much was shoe horned in. The production value also didn't seem particularly high at any point, which is worrying. You really need a decent budget to tell these stories convincingly. Plus, screw NBC and it's "no smoking" policy.
I'll give the next couple episodes a shot, and it's still better than Gotham, but this did not make a very good impression. I'm happy to hear that the bounced the female lead at the last minute for the rest of the series.
yeah, they actually drop the female lead after the first episode, and introduce another assistant next week.
I like the character of Constantine, but thought there was a bit front-loading of character development. We really didn't need to hear Constatine's backstory in the first episode...they could have stretched that out and let the character have a bit more mystery.
Also...I couldn't follow the plot with Furcifer. I didn't get how they identified him, why he was specifically targeting the girl, etc.
It's a pilot which feels like a pilot. That makes me more hopeful that it will improve in upcoming weeks.
Girl was probably targeted because of the scrying ability. My guess is to keep that map she gave him at the end out of the hands of those who might stop bad things from happening.
They identified him with a Big Book of Demons Constantine was reading.
And presumably having someone who can tell the future is a valuable asset for the forces of Hell.
They identified him with a Big Book of Demons...
...which was conveniently standing there and opened two pages from the right page at first try! I can't even do that with my monster manual, which I pretty much know by heart.
For the records these kind of trick don't bother me much as I understand they didn't want to waste screen time studying the huge grimoire for months, but that made me chuckle inside :)
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They identified him with a Big Book of Demons......which was conveniently standing there and opened two pages from the right page at first try! I can't even do that with my monster manual, which I pretty much know by heart.
For the records these kind of trick don't bother me much as I understand they didn't want to waste screen time studying the huge grimoire for months, but that made me chuckle inside :)
Eh, I just figure they were indexed alphabetically by theme and he just opened it to "E for Electric Psycho" and went from there. =)
the interwebs are hinting that all the easter eggs in that room (including the artifact referred to in my first post) are part of a grander design to introduce a greater DCU (just like MCU did with the movies linking with Agents of SHIELD)
Warner Brothers has I think has stated they have no intention of tying in TV with their movies, although I suppose it's not impossible that Constantine exists in the same universe as Gotham, as well as Arrow/Flash. Still...that's three channels, and multi-channel crossovers are really really hard to pull off.
... and he just opened it to "E for Electric Psycho" and went from there. =)
Works for me!
Can't wait to check this out tomorrow night. Would have watched it already, but the film festival is a harsh mistress and consuming all of my free time. A break in the schedule tomorrow though!
The female lead was awful (can't tell if it was the actress or just bad writing
Agreed. It looked like they were setting it up to be another Sleepy Hallow type show but the girl playing Liv Aberdine is no Nicole Beharie.
According to a few news reports and Wikipedia she is only in the pilot. I guess the studio decided to go in a different direction. (yay)
I'll give it a few more episodes as well.
I thought it was excellent. Liv was mediocre, and I didn't particularly like the angel. But Constantine himself was great.
Meh so far, but there might be potential later on.
Plus, screw NBC and it's "no smoking" policy.
I think that's actually an FCC regulation.
Constantine's pilot really confirmed to me how useless pilots are for judging the quality of a series, unless they're utterly terrible or incredibly good, but so few are either. (They're useful for telling what KIND of show something is going to be, but now how good it's likely to be.)
I say this as someone who hasn't read the comics or seen the movie, but loves good TV. My takeaway from the Constantine pilot was: cool, this seems like a mythology with a lot to mine, like the lead and the dude playing the angel, don't like the female lead.
This is a show that's going to work or not work based on how well it leavens its darkness with humor, and the strength of its character building and character relationships. None of which I could tell from the pilot.
Cool cabin, though. I'd watch an occult detective mystery-solving/hangout show set there.
I managed to sneak some time in last night to watch the pilot. I actually really enjoyed it. Some of the effects were a bit hokey, but I kind of expect that from most TV shows (it could also be because I wasn't watching it in the highest quality).
Big fan of casting Matt Ryan as Constantine, Charles Halford as Chas isn't bad either. Not a huge fan of the Manny character (the angel), but that's probably because there's no way he can hold a candle to Tilda Swinton's Gabriel from the film.
Been hearing people around the office complain about it not being more like the movie it's based on, and wondering why they changed the character from American to British. *sigh*
Constantine's pilot really confirmed to me how useless pilots are for judging the quality of a series, unless they're utterly terrible or incredibly good, but so few are either. (They're useful for telling what KIND of show something is going to be, but now how good it's likely to be.)
I say this as someone who hasn't read the comics or seen the movie, but loves good TV. My takeaway from the Constantine pilot was: cool, this seems like a mythology with a lot to mine, like the lead and the dude playing the angel, don't like the female lead.
This is a show that's going to work or not work based on how well it leavens its darkness with humor, and the strength of its character building and character relationships. None of which I could tell from the pilot.
Cool cabin, though. I'd watch an occult detective mystery-solving/hangout show set there.
I'd recommend the comics over the movie if you ever decide to compare the series to something. The movie was fun, and had some really good moments, but isn't really a good adaptation of the comic. They kind of took an extremely narrow slice of the character and focused entirely on that. That said, Tilda Swinton's performance as Gabriel is tupping marvelous, and it's worth watching for that alone. Also maybe for Balthazar, because he's so charmingly evil.
Tilda Swinton is my queen, so I'm planning to watch it whenever I can get someone to come watch it with me.
Since apparently everyone but me has already seen it. :(
Plus, screw NBC and it's "no smoking" policy.I think that's actually an FCC regulation.
No, it's not. It's the network's rule.
That said, Tilda Swinton's performance as Gabriel is tupping marvelous, and it's worth watching for that alone.
Yes! Constantine (the movie) has a few good elements, but she really made the movie for me. She really rocked that biblical androgynous angel look, but with a modern twist.
I had seen her in movies before Constantine, but that was where I really acknowledged her as a great actress and one with the greatest presence on the screen (later confirmed in Narnia).
No, it's not. It's the network's rule.
Interesting; I stand corrected.
Off topic, but in my Perfect Jonah Hex Movie, The Devil is played by the same actor that portrayed him in the Constantine (pronounced Kon-Stan-Tyyyyyyyne) movie, in the same manner, wearing the same suit and with that same "I'm so tired of life" drawl to his creepy word machinations.
Also off topic, but I haven't seen anything of The Flash or Constantine TV series' yet, but someone please help me believe that they won't keep up the mispronunciation of R'as Al Ghul that they dragged over from Batman Begins and into Arrow S2? Please? I need the reassurance.
It keeps me up at night.
Apparently, the producers were in talks with NBC to try and get the smoking allowed, and NBC nixed that idea. Drinking heavily, apparently, is perfectly fine, as is wandering around with a Zippo lighter without anything to light (other than rings of fire to contain demons, I guess. You'd think a box of strike-anywhere matches would be more efficient.)
I miss the days of X-Files and the Smoking Man. (Trivia: The actor who played the character didn't smoke. The "cigarettes" were actually just herbal.)
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Off topic, but in my Perfect Jonah Hex Movie, The Devil is played by the same actor that portrayed him in the Constantine (pronounced Kon-Stan-Tyyyyyyyne) movie, in the same manner, wearing the same suit and with that same "I'm so tired of life" drawl to his creepy word machinations.
Agreed; that portrayal was the best part of the movie.
Also off topic, but I haven't seen anything of The Flash or Constantine TV series' yet, but someone please help me believe that they won't keep up the mispronunciation of R'as Al Ghul that they dragged over from Batman Begins and into Arrow S2? Please? I need the reassurance.
It keeps me up at night.
Batman begins had it right; it's Arrow S2 that @#$@# it up. Rawr! ;-)
Off topic, but in my Perfect Jonah Hex Movie, The Devil is played by the same actor that portrayed him in the Constantine (pronounced Kon-Stan-Tyyyyyyyne) movie, in the same manner, wearing the same suit and with that same "I'm so tired of life" drawl to his creepy word machinations.Agreed; that portrayal was the best part of the movie.
Now imagine him doing that routine while on the back of a speeding train and getting into a fist fight with Jonah Hex and you have the climax of the script I wrote but got returned unopened. :(
Batman begins had it right; it's Arrow S2 that @#$@# it up. Rawr! ;-)Also off topic, but I haven't seen anything of The Flash or Constantine TV series' yet, but someone please help me believe that they won't keep up the mispronunciation of R'as Al Ghul that they dragged over from Batman Begins and into Arrow S2? Please? I need the reassurance.
It keeps me up at night.
No, BB had it wrong, too. It's R'as pronounced Raysh, not R'as pronounced Raz/Rahz/Rawz.
What bugs me about that is that both Nolan and Bale pronounced it properly (Raysh) in the special features footage (as did everyone in the Dini-verse Animated series' throughout the entirety of those runs), but in the actual Bat-Nolan films it was always Raz/Rahz/Rawz.
It makes me want to burn Gotham to the ground like the cancerous blight upon the world it i... Er, it makes me frustrated.
And of course a day later there's an episode in Arrow S2 where Lyssa (not Talia?) pronounces it correctly.
Anyway I can't wait to get ahold of Constantine on my friends DVR and devour it wholeheartedly.
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Nhyssa
Yeah, I realized I'd completely flubbed it too late to edit my post. Mea culpa. :(
Anyone else notice that NBC have apparently relaxed their no smoking policy as of the second episode. You can see him take a few puffs from time to time, and he's got a pack of cigarettes in his hands at the end of the episode.
Really enjoyed this episode, and I'm a much bigger fan of the character of Zed Martin than I was of Liv. I'm glad to see they're not going with the narrow view of the film as well, which only really dealt with heaven and hell, with the exception of Papa Midnite's brand of magic (which didn't really get explored). Allowing for a wider range of spirits and magic from other sources can only be a good thing to my mind.
That said, the line 'There's nothing blacker than gypsy magic' is really going to annoy a few of my friends when they see it. So, you know, it's like free extra entertainment for me.
yeah...I was sort of "well...that sounds wrong" at the gypsy magic remark
really this episode felt like a second crack at a pilot. I liked this episode a lot better though.
I just thought it was kind of an odd comment. I mean I know it's referring to the stories about gypsy curses and so on, but I'm sure there's been a lot of representations where it's harmless fortune telling and so on.
Anyway, I really enjoyed both the first episode and this one, but the first episode really felt like a pilot to me, like it needed work and was more of a proof of concept than anything else. The second one, still finding its feet, but much better.
I liked the second episode a lot more than the first.
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Thinner and Drag Me To Hell would beg to differ with you on the harmless gypsy curse bit.
There are other sources in media (the Vistani in Ravenloft, for example), and there are depictions of the harmless fortune telling you speak of (The Spleen's power from Mystery Men immediately comes to mind, but that's up for debate as to whether it's truly harmless), but some of the foulest curses ever laid down in folklore generally are the result of gypsy magic .
EDIT
Thinner and Drag Me To Hell would beg to differ with you on the harmless gypsy curse bit.
There are other sources in media (the Vistani in Ravenloft, for example), and there are depictions of the harmless fortune telling you speak of (The Spleen's power from Mystery Men immediately comes to mind, but that's up for debate as to whether it's truly harmless), but some of the foulest curses ever laid down in folklore generally are the result of gypsy magic .
EDIT
Which is why I didn't say harmless gypsy curse. And yes, gypsy magic is often shown as evil and dangerous, but I've seen plenty of other interpretations as well. Maybe not 100% harmless but definitely not deadly and evil.
I personally don't have a problem with the way they worded it, it just amused me since I know some people who will be annoyed by it.
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That's always going to be the case... I see where you're coming from. I didn't mean to put words in your digital mouth, so I sincerely apologize for doing so.
I liked the pilot, but I loved this last episode. I've never read Hellblazer, so the only thing I know concerning John Constantine comes mostly from the movie (and from what I can tell, that didn't come close to the comics). So I've had to take these episodes purely on their merits. There's a lot of potential here and as long as NBC can keep episodes on par with last week's, the show will be great.
Looking forward to seeing Papa Midnite in this week's episode.
No worries, just wanted to make sure what I was saying was clear.
I've read bits and pieces of Hellblazer over the years, and this is making me want to go back and start collecting from the beginning. Once I have money for luxuries again, it's going to be the next series I collect. I'm not really sure how the series has been doing since it got rebooted as Constantine when DC did the whole new 52 thing, but I know they've also got Constantine as the leader (unless something's changed) of the Justice League Dark team, which handles the more supernatural side of things (magic, demons and so on) that they don't want to throw at the regular old Justice League.
Fair enough. I've read a number of specific arcs. Can't think of the names of any of them at the moment, but the main one I read was the one where Constantine is dealing with terminal lung cancer (so one of the things that made it into the film). Also read All His Engines, which wasn't part of the main run (didn't have any issue numbers, was published as a side story), which was cool.
I'm hoping the writing improves. A lot of Constantine's lines this last episode came off as overblown and downright hammy, even for something with a film noir feel.
Oof, that second episode was bad all around. The writing, the pacing...ugh.
I'm going to petty nit pick for a second.
Put a little dirt or brimstone on him. Make Constantine look like you could smell the booze, cigarettes and man musk (BO).
Well, all down to personal opinions, I haven't really had a problem with it yet. In fact I'm loving it more with each episode. Really enjoyed the 3rd one.
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My first thought after the first and second episodes was 'wow, this guy plays Constantine like a smarmy unlikable toad.'
And then I went back to my Swamp Thing comics, and, lo and behold, he's playing the character true. He kind of was a smarmy unlikable toad, at least originally. (I assume he became a bit more likable in his own series, but then, the popularity of unlikable jerk characters like House, MD, might prove me wrong...)
Yup, Constantine is in general a pretty abrasive character. Jerk with a heart of gold is the best description to my mind.
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Yup, Constantine is in general a pretty abrasive character. Jerk with a heart of gold is the best description to my mind.
Well, I wouldn't call it "gold."
"Pyrite," maybe.
"Rusty Iron," perhaps.
"Someone else's gold," even.
My first thought after the first and second episodes was 'wow, this guy plays Constantine like a smarmy unlikable toad.'
And then I went back to my Swamp Thing comics, and, lo and behold, he's playing the character true. He kind of was a smarmy unlikable toad, at least originally. (I assume he became a bit more likable in his own series, but then, the popularity of unlikable jerk characters like House, MD, might prove me wrong...)
No not really, even in his own comic title he remains a smarmy unlikable toad. Mostly though he acts that way because it's his way to protect others from himself as everyone who ever became close to him either died or worse happened to them. The only time he's not unlikable is when he deals with children which is how he got damned in the first place.