Constantine Review

Constantine Review – DC Animation has consistently released a wide variety of shorts and movies over the past ten years. DC Animation has featured many of their top stars like Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. They have also included their lesser-known characters to help them expand their reach and introduce some of their most beloved comic book characters into mainstream culture. “Constantine – The House of Mystery” is the latest DC Showcase short to reach home entertainment platforms. It comes as part of a larger release that also includes some other DC shorts.

Matt Ryan plays the live-action ‘Constantine” from his show, ‘Legends of Tomorrow, and once again portrays the role of Hellblazer John Constantine. This all-new short takes place right after the catastrophic events of ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.’ John Constantine wakes in an eerie House of Mystery with a blurred memory of how he got there. Constantine is greeted by familiar faces from his past, present and future. But Constantine quickly discovers that their presence is entirely nefarious. He must relive his nightmares in penance for saving the planet.

We begin with a live-action segment. It’s a POV of a person walking into a comic shop. After looking down the aisles, they come across a rack with a copy of House of Mystery. Then we are transported into animation. The story begins right after the conclusion of ‘Justice League Dark : Apokolips Wars’. This short adds to the DC Animated movie, which is a great film. This short answers a few key questions for those who haven’t seen the movie.

Constantine – The House Of Mystery

Camilla Luddington (from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’), and Ray Chase (last seen last in Oscar nominated ‘Licorice pizza’) return to their roles as Zatanna/Etrigan from ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips Wars’. Robin Atkin Downes and Damian O’Hare, ‘The Strain’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl’ respectively, return to their roles in ‘Constantine : City of Demons’. Grey Griffin, a veteran voice talent, and Lou Diamond Phillips, screen legend (‘Young Guns) also join the cast. Phillips plays the fan-favorite character The Spectre which is a wonderful addition to the story.

It’s a DC Showcase short and is just under an hour long. To add some spice, the animated shorts collection is also on the disc. It includes ‘Kamandi:The Last Boy on Earth!’ originally released as a bonus on ‘Justice Society: World War II. Next up are the legendary World War II outcasts, Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud and “Mile-a-Minute Jones”, rookie Gunner, Sarge, and ‘The Losers’. This bonus feature was originally included on ‘Batman: The Long Halloween Part One’. Silver Age’s ‘Blue Beetle” is featured in this final part of the ‘Constantine-The House of Mystery’ home entertainment release. This was previously released in the ‘Batman – The Long Halloween Part Two’ release earlier this year.

This is a must-have for DC Animation fans. It’s not much for casual viewers, but it is a great opportunity to collect all the DC Showcase shorts in one place. This release will be most beneficial to Constantine fans. However, it is a short animation of only 27 minutes so you may need to decide if you want to buy the entire collection. To make the set stand for itself, it would have been a better idea to include all the DC shorts over the past 10 years. The story of ‘Constantine: The House of Mystery’ is entertaining with horror tinges. It could have been made into a longer-form film if some of these themes were explored more.

Cast: Matt Ryan and Ray Chase. Robin Atkin Downes. Grey Griffin. Camilla Luddington. Damian O’Hare. Lou Diamond Phillips. Director: Matt Peters. Writer: Ernie Altbacker. Certificate: 15. Duration: 27 minutes. Released by Warner Bros. Date: 3 May 2021

Constantine Review

Constantine – The House Of Mystery

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