The Crow
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1989 writer and artist James O’Barr unleashed his creation The Crow on comic fans in the underground comic scene through Caliber Press. In 1994 it came to the big screen with the feature film starring the late Brandon Lee and fully captured the essence of O’Barr’s work and has become a fan favorite and holds up to this day. Over the years there have been numerous sequels or reimaging’s through films, comics and even a short-lived TV series starring Mark Dacascos. Now Snow White and The Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders has taken on the near impossible task or bringing this story back to the big screen with Bill Skarsgård taking on the iconic role of Eric and co-starring FKA twigs and Danny Huston.
The Crow follows Soulmates Eric and Shelly who are brutally murdered when the
demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
First and foremost, going into this film it needs to be said that this is not a remake of the original film in any way. This is a reimagining of the source material so trying to claim the remake aspect is just stupid. It is a completely different story and literally nothing to do with the original comic or movie except for the Crow idea and names Eric and Shelly. I think the biggest mistake of it all are those names as you can completely change them, and it would not have affected this movie in any way and likely got a warmer reception.
This new film is far from perfect, but also has some great moments that I really enjoyed. The story is simple enough and getting to spend a little more time to see their relationship build was necessary to understand their fractured lives and how they were brought together as opposed to just a couple already established. This worked for me but does drag on too long at times and needed to be trimmed to
get us to the point of why fans love this property. It’s always been a love story but doesn’t need to show the love story in its entirety since it is also about vengeance.
I thought Skarsgård was great in the role bringing some high points that pulled me into this world even when it faulters. The chemistry with FKA Twigs, who I know nothing about, worked well enough to make me believe in their damage finding each other to build more. The initial reasoning of the murders worked fine had they stuck to just the real-world insanity of it all and gave a different reason for why it was done. Instead, they leaned deep into the supernatural of it all with little to no explanation of why. I am not referring to the Crow elements, we know that, but the inclusion of more from Hell just made it fall flat and generic. The change to the outcome of it all also changes the lore which I did not like, but also get what he was trying to do with this vision.
The action takes too long to get going, but when it does it is well done and a bloody good time. The opera house sequence is simple enough to harken back to the iconic Lee gun fight in the original against all the gang members, but here with a more vicious tone. I loved the various ways of not only him killing, but getting to see him heal and resurrect in various ways added to the mythos we already know. The back and forth with the guide of sorts reminded me of elements of the skull head cowboy from the comic that was omitted from the original film (despite being shot I believe). It serves as an interesting change to Sanders contemporary vision, but also not always necessary.
I commend Sanders for the attempt at bringing a new vision of this property in any fashion to the forefront. It’s passionate fans like me already were both hating and rooting for the possibility but will likely never be happy with anything but the original for many reasons. I love the original film that will forever be the perfect adaptation of O’Barr’s brilliant series. It still delivers and stands all its own and always will. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want other takes on the Crow premise as it has always been one that offers up so many options and of course keeps the legacy of O’Barr and his creation forever in the spotlight where it deserves.
Far from perfect and pushing my passion for the original premise and film aside, I enjoyed it more than I hated it. With the horrible trilogy of films that already exist behind the original this one is a massive step in the right direction even if it doesn’t hit the mark all the time. I hope some can appreciate what is here as opposed to just comparing to a film it has nothing to do with nor diminishes and decide for yourself. The upside is that if you hate this film, Brandon Lee and Alex Proyas’ original is forever available and you can dive right back into its perfection.
