Constantine

2 things I'd like to ask of this thread

1) Is this Constantine the right shade of anti hero or is he too nice?

2) Does anyone feel Zed is supposed to be this show's version of Zatanna being magical girls who have a relationship (romantic or otherwise) with Constantine?

Show!Constantine is nicer than his comic counterpart, but he's still quite a self-absorbed dick with a penchant for using people as pawns. And by the way the plotlines are proceeding, I have the feeling that, if the show isn't cancelled, he'll get progressively darker.

This is pretty shameless of me, but I would have liked a stripped down production. Things like the soundtrack composed solely with drums, guitar, and bass. Or John wears one coat until he absolutely can't wear it anymore, and then he buys a new coat or fixes it or something. Practical effects instead of CGI whenever possible. No makeup or hair artists unless it's FX or beyond the abilities of the cast.

I mean, the production in general hasn't got a shred of real soul. And if it does, it's buried under easter eggs for comic readers and sorely uneven writing quality. Having no budget to lean on for fixing shit in post would wake up the crew and it fits with John being, you know, poor.

edited 1st Feb '15 2:20:55 PM by Leradny

As far as I know, Zed predates Zatanna as Constantine's Magical Girlfriend in the comics (unless she shows up alongside John during his Swamp Thing debut days, which I admittedly haven't gotten around to reading yet. Think I'll get to it after binge-reading all of Hellblazer). Zed's introduced in the first couple of issues, actually, so if anything, Zatanna replaced her in fulfilling that role.

Or it would just make the entire show look like a half-assed fanseries. Lack of budget can go both ways to forging creativity than it can just fuck up an entire project.

The show looks like a half assed fanseries with a medium sized budget as it is. If someone had submitted a script with an entire monologue of the main character simply TELLING the audience about his troubled childhood to a film teacher, it would have gotten an F! With a note in the margin saying "Show, don't tell—next time, cut to a scene of his father beating the shit out of him."

edited 1st Feb '15 6:04:12 PM by Leradny

The power in an actor's voice can convey thoughts just as well as flashbacks.

Look, there are a lot of things I can overlook if I like something enough. But the pilot had numerous issues that made me think the writers and crew were phoning it in.

Continuity? John's coat didn't get dirty after dust, leaves, and blood got all over it. Shot setup? There was an extended shot of Liv holding her phone up to show a picture to John, but she was blocking the image with her hand. Plot itself? Incoherent. Things happen with no real reason. Characters besides John have the depth of cardboard cutouts.

I'm trying very hard to like the show, but it's scattered all over the place.

I pretty much agree with what you said although I think the last few episodes have been improving. Can't say I'll be sad if it doesn't get renewed though and at this point it probably won't be.

The pilot is so-so, that is a fact that has been acknowledged by everyone, but your suggestions to improve the show don't hold much water in my view. One saying that taking down the show's budget (which is about the same as suggesting you shoot someone in the arm in the hopes this will lead them to become superstrong with the remaining one) and the other is complaining about a single monologue, a established dramatic tactic.

There are a lot of problems with the show of course, but I think it has been steadily improving.

I'm not saying to strip the budget entirely, but that they should focus the money and writers they have on better things than "making John look good." Low budget does not automatically mean low quality. Ask any independent filmmaker. Or take a look at Doctor Who in the first few seasons.

edited 1st Feb '15 6:58:05 PM by Leradny

The point I'm trying to get across is that it doesn't mean good quality in the slightest either. I'm an independant filmmaker and I can attest that I've seen terrible low budget things. Now if you're saying that they should just spend their money better, then that seems fine, though I don't understand the "making John look better" part. He's been consistently portrayed as an asshole, though of a lesser grade than his comic self, but an asshole nonetheless.

My suggestions weren't even low budget. If the theme song was composed by The Police reunited, and practical effects were on the level of Inception, that would shove it waaaay into the high end.

Never mind, I'll just wipe my posts. No one gives a shit about my criticism anyway.

Now there's no need for such harsh measures. We're just debating.

Just because people are not aggreeing with you, or making counterarguments, does not mean your opinion is not valued.

I disagree. (Kidding, kidding)

NBC might move Constantine to SyFy, retitled as Hellblazer.

If that is true that is great news Syfy doesn't have the high rating standards and they could pair it with David Goyer's other DC show Krypton.

NBC did love the On Demand, DVR, and Online numbers of Constantine they just hated the live numbers.

NBC shot themselves in the fucking foot when they decided to put Constantine on Friday Nights instead of any other weekday nights, which is what what every other superhero show is doing. Gotham, Flash, Agents Of Shield/Agent Carter, Arrow, are all doing pretty well and get a lot of buzz because they're on at primetime. But noooope, NBC had to go "gee, instead of putting our brand new show based on a loved comic book property from DC on Fridays!"

Black Diamonds? Is the big bad Eclipso?

It was pretty wrathful. If the series keeps going, they could have had John unwillingly reassembling the Black Diamond. He has got two bits so far.

Apropos of nothing, DC really should use Eclipso more often.He's a major league threat, arguably on the level of Darkseid(and at worst just a notch and a half below.Using him helps keep stoneface from getting overexposed and nerfed.

Season finale is on now for Eastern timezone.

Thanks for the reminder. My damn alarm was set wrong so I missed part of it. >=(