The most overwhelming problem with this film is its theology, which undergirds the storyline at every point.  For some, this may not be so obvious, but even the most nominal churchgoer will notice glaring contradictions.  I happen to have a degree in the subject, so it hammered at me like a contractor behind schedule.  There are truths in “Constantine,” to be sure – but they are few and far between.  The film accurately presents the notion that good and evil are at work in the world, and that angels and demons try to influence us so that God or Satan can win our souls for the hereafter.  A place called Hell – which is fairly well represented in this version – also does indeed exist.  Presented as a barren, fire-consumed wasteland, this portrayal will have even the staunchest of atheists a little concerned. 

The rest of “Constantine,” however, is just plain deluded.  For starters, there is no spiritual law that angels and demons cannot cross over to the physical world.  This can and does happen – and the film even contradicts itself on this very point, by showing a demonic possession.  Humans, however, cannot cross back and forth to Heaven or Hell.  This point is illustrated in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16.  The rich man, who is suffering in Hell, asks for Lazarus, a poor beggar who is now in Heaven, to give him a drop of water.  Abraham says to the rich man, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”  In other words, once you’re dead, you’re dead – no changing seats.

Another major problem is the film’s teaching that those who commit suicide are relegated to Hell.  This is not a side note in “Constantine,” but a major premise, because this is the only way that characters can go back and forth between the natural and the spiritual realms.  That they do so by drowning in a bathtub might even be construed as an “anti” baptism.  You go under, you die, you go to Hell – instead of being reborn.  However, the teaching about suicide as the unforgivable sin is not Protestant, Roman Catholic or Orthodox teaching.  It is not Biblical at all, although many believe that it is (and as such, it has perhaps saved many from attempting it, although definitely for the wrong reason). 

The film also offers the message that truth can only be discerned from Satan, who is the only one to appear to keep his word.  Constantine must find the Satanic Bible, which has additional chapters of Corinthians (a blasphemy in itself).  This “teaching” reveals what is about to happen with the birth of Satan’s son, a sort of Anti-Christ that must be born through the womb of a medium – a twisted version of the birth narrative.  Lucifer also spouts off at the end of the film, as if he has something to teach us, determines when Constantine will die (so he, not God, has the power of life and death) and then performs a healing.  All this is sheer blasphemy of the highest level.