But the biggest way Constantine works is by using Hellblazer as a jumping-off point, rather than a stone-carved outline to be slavishly followed. In doing so, it creates a moody piece of modern, metaphysical noir.
I think I might prefer the movie to what comics have done to the character since Hellblazer ended. I didn't buy it when he said it, but I think Warren Ellis was right that John Constantine really belonged to his time and doesn't fit outside of it.