City of Demons is an animated film (taken from the CW free animated series with added content) following an adventure directed by Doug Murphy featuring John Constantine (Matt Ryan) trying to save his best friend, Chas (Damian O'Hare), little girl who has slipped into a coma following a demon taking hostage of her soul. City of demons is the second animated film released that stars Constantine, which is set in the same universe as Justice League Dark.
City of Demons is a chair gripping, dark and depressing film with twists and turns at critical times. City of demons takes a nod to the source material, vertigo’s run of Hellblazer and the HBC cancelled Constantine tv series. We see an introduction of some classic characters throughout the Hellblazer series with the introduction of Nightmare Nurse (Laura Bailey), Berou (Jim Meskimen) and Renee (Emily O'Brien).
Animated films are not always popular amongst film lovers however the animation in City of Demons is superb, using the same animation style as Justice League Dark and even though the style is copied, the movie has a much darker and twisted feel to it and not holding back from the source material. The animation allows a greater graphic scene than what a CGI film could create, there is a reason that this film is R rated. The voice acting, we see the return of Matt Ryan who has been playing the role of Constantine most recently in Legends of Tomorrow. We get the same wit, tone and snarky remarks which ties in with the animation and what can be witnessed in the arrow universe.
John Constantine is a trickster, con artist, magician and a master of the dark arts. His adventure starts a few years after the events of Newcastle which have left him as a depressed and worn out man who drinks away his problems. Due to certain events, his best friend Chas requires Constantine help, even though reluctant he agrees to help and thus the adventure begins. We see the events of Newcastle in detail, the directors own twist of the events where a young, arrogant Constantine who was just a petty dabbler in magic tries to save a little girl called Astra. The same fate is set for Astra which sees her dragged to hell by a demon called Nergal. This event broke Constantine and he was sent to Ravenscar Mental Institution to aid is recover and hoping to forget the events of Newcastle that have scarred his mind. These events set the scene for the entire film, the mindset Constantine is in and how far he would go to save the girls soul. Constantine also warns that magic has a price, something Chas would become very aware of throughout the film. With Newcastle plaguing his mind we see a change from the young arrogant Constantine to dealing with a demon and surprisingly working for him to save his best friends daughter. How far will Constantine go to not fail a second little girl and what would Chas sacrifice for Constantine to save her? Those questions are answered in City of Demons.
City of Demons is a film with darkness, evil and witty humour. A must watch film for fans of the arrowverse and Constantine fans.