- Director: Rupert Sanders
- Writers: Zach Baylin, William Josef Schneider
- Stars: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, David Bowle
After years of failed attempts by various directors and actors, The Crow has once again been brought to the big screen, but it’s not a remake. Star Bill Skarsgård (Barbarian) and director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) have made it very clear that neither of them ever intended to remake the 1994 cult classic, nor would they dream of trying to fill Brandon Lee’s shoes. Instead, this iteration is a more faithful adaptation of the 1989 graphic novel by James O’Barr, but let’s not pretend as though it won’t be constantly compared to the ’94 film. So, how does it measure up?
Well, that all depends on how much the original film meant to you. For some, it’s an integral part of their childhood and can never be replaced. For others, it’s an overly dramatic time capsule of 90’s aesthetics that, quite frankly, isn’t that amazing. Brandon Lee, who tragically lost his life while filming The Crow, is unquestionably great as Eric Draven and the overall look and feel of the film is pitch perfect, both for the material and for the time that it was released. This was back when movies had entire soundtracks made especially for them and The Crow’s soundtrack is the strongest supporting character in the movie. Ultimately, fans of the novel wished that the story had remained a bit more faithful, but the film’s cultural impact can’t be denied.
Thirty years later, the story remains the same: Eric Draven is still on an undead mission of revenge after he and his one true love, Shelly, are murdered. Writers Zach Baylin and William Josef Schneider have fleshed out this love story and that does add quite a bit in the sense that you are much more invested in Eric’s mission, but there’s also a point at which you forget you came here for The Crow because you just keep watching these two be tragically hip all over a gloomy, dirty, unnamed city hellscape. Basically, Eric and Shelly (FKA twigs) meet at rehab, escape together and then do lots of Hot People things with a seemingly endless supply of time and money. Seriously, how they afford such a lavish loser core lifestyle is a bigger question than how Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston) accomplishes all of his occult tricks. To bring things into the modern world, it’s a video shared via cell phone that puts Shelly in the crosshairs of Vincent and causes her and Eric’s untimely death.
In purgatory, Eric meets Wickham (an excellent David Bowle) who explains that Vincent has caused an unbalance of good and evil in the world, so Eric can return to the land of the living, kill Vincent and all of his minions and then be rejoined with Shelly. Of course, the path to a reunion will not be a straight line, nor will it be easy, but it will be fun for the viewer. While the movie is overlong, it’s worth it when Eric begins killing people. In fact, the carnage that takes place at the opera is worth every unnecessary minute of exposition. Skarsgård is absolutely magnetic in his death makeup and long jacket as he slices and dices through Vincent’s men.
The action scenes in the film are a great time and the visuals of purgatory are also lovely. Unfortunately, this is yet another reimagination that feels unnecessary simply because the acting is milquetoast, the story drags on and the ending is unsatisfying. While the ’94 film is melodramatic to the point of embarrassing, this one seems to suffer from not being saccharine enough. If you love seeing a hot guy covered in blood, then this is the movie for you, but if you’re looking for a tragic love story that pulls at the heart strings, you might want to look elsewhere.
Lisa Fremont
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