10 Movies Where God Intervenes
Gods move in mysterious ways, but sometimes they just roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.
The deus ex machina (god in the machine) should be nothing new to fiction lovers the world over, as sudden interventions by higher powers have been a recurring feature since the advent of the dramatic arts. Because, while characters can generally be trusted to get themselves in and out of trouble, sometimes they need a little helping hand.
And while that helping hand doesn't always have to be god - look at the intervention of the machines in The Matrix, the police in Monty Python's Holy Grail and David Hasselhoff in the Spongebob Squarepants Movie - sometimes it is.
These movies invoke the Christian god, His/Her variations (Alanis Morisette, anyone?), and a smattering of other deities big and small, all willing to stick their oar in whether it's wanted or not.
Spanning comedy, drama, horror and everything in between, it seems no genre is safe from divine intervention - but it's not always for the best. These 10 films take the concept of the deus ex machina to a whole new level. And, no, we're not counting the Marvel gods.
10. Constantine (2005)
Despite the original not having been all that well received (thanks to some major divergences from the Hellblazer comic book source material), rumours abound of a sequel to Francis Lawrence's Constantine abound. But whether this will come to fruition is anyone's guess. What we do know is that, for everything it failed in, Constantine made up in equal measure.
Sure, Keanu Reeves moody anti-hero John Constantine spends much of the movie moping and trying not to smoke or crack wise, but it all leads up to a mega final showdown, in which the androgynous angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) unleashes their master plan to enact their revenge against mankind.
God participates in the final battle at a heck of a distance, but the big guy upstairs' presence is very much felt when Gabriel discovers their divine protection has been rescinded. This means that when Constantine summons Lucifer (Peter Stormare) by slitting his own wrists (as you do), Gabriel cannot smite the unholy one, and suffers the dire consequences of having their wings burned off and made mortal - allowing Constantine to literally box their nose.