The Crow (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Soulmates Eric Draven and Shelly Webster are brutally murdered. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek revenge, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.

My Take – I think we can all agree that some films don’t need remakes, especially the ones who themselves when through production hell to get to the screens. Such is the case of The Crow (1994).

Based on the 1989 comic book series by James O’Barr, the Alex Proyas directed cursed gothic superhero revenge flick lost its lead, Brandon Lee, son of the legendary Bruce Lee, due to a fatal accident during filming. Forcing the crew to complete rest of the film through script rewrites, a stunt double and digital effects.

Thankfully, upon release the film received decent reviews, and ended up grossing $94 million on its $23 million budget, a success that was sadly, followed up with four terrible sequels, each worse than its predecessor. Nevertheless, with each passing year the cult of the original film only grew. Igniting the idea of a remake whose process had been stuck in development hell since 2008.

With multiple directors and actors circling the project, eventually landing in the hands of director Rupert Sanders, known for directing the so-so retooled Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and the controversial 2017 adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, with Bill Skarsgård, best known for portraying Pennywise in the horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), in the lead role.

Unfortunately, the remake is a middling effort at best. Incoherently plotted and sloppily made, the feature will go down as one of the most pointless remakes ever made.

Sure, it is not the misbegotten disaster its troubled road to release suggested, as it is visually impressive and achieves a measure of moody appeal, however, it struggles with pacing and could have easily benefited from either a shorter runtime or a more consistent focus on action.

Most importantly, it lacks the flashy style and Gen X attitude that made the original an instant sensation, particularly with the goths of the time. Yes, it contains some fruitful tweaks, but it’s not different enough to compensate for the ways it fails to match the splashy, moody dumb fun we lapped up earlier.

The story follows (Bill Skarsgård), a tattooed gentle tortured young man, who comes from a broken home and is currently committed to a coed prison-like rehab facility. Things change for him when he meets Shelly (FKA Twigs) and the two quickly connect with their shared loved for tattoos and music. Due to sudden circumstances, the two even escape together, hoping to build a live together. That is until, Shelly’s past catches up with them.

Until sometime ago, Shelly was a singer on the rise but unwisely associated with shadowy tycoon Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston), who has sold his soul to the devil, winning longevity and a luxury lifestyle in exchange for sending the souls of corrupted innocents to hell. And when her friends Zadie (Isabella Wei) and Dom (Sebastian Orozsco) record evidence of such deeds, they are quickly found out, placing all in danger.

Soon enough, both Shelly and Eric are killed. However, Eric wakes up to find himself caught in a strange kind of purgatory, and is given an option by the guiding spirit of Kronos (Sami Bouajila) to head back to the world of the living by the spirit of “The Crow”, in order to right the wrong that was done to the young couple.

Unlike the original, writers Zach Baylin and William Schneider‘s screenplay spends a significant amount of time establishing Eric’s relationship with Shelly. But the relationship never develops beyond fashion-spread canoodling.

This is not exactly a love story for the ages, and so Eric’s subsequent rampage fails to accrue the operatic heartache it desperately demands. Also, it might not align with what viewers expect if they’re going in looking for wall-to-wall action, especially considering the intense and action-packed marketing campaign.

Even the choice to tweak the original set-up, a couple protesting forced evictions targeted by a local crime lord, and strip it of any realism edging it into full fantasy territory is a bizarre and crushing misstep. It’s change for the sake of change, a far less powerful and far more anonymous update that turns the film from heightened crime noir into a TV pilot.

And when the action finally arrives, it’s solid-gory, intense, and well-choreographed-but it’s also fleeting. Most of the key action sequences seem to have already been teased in the trailers, leaving little as surprise.

Indeed, the film shines visually, with fantastic cinematography that captures the gothic atmosphere beautifully, echoing the vibe of the original while adding a modern flair. However, the action that does exist feels too brief, especially given how long the film spends getting there.

Performance wise, Bill Skarsgård is no Brandon Lee, but is decent enough as Eric Draven, manages to at least keep us captivated with his handling of the iconic character. FKA Twigs brings in a flat turn, giving us absolutely nothing to feel for her death something that should have been painful enough to cause such a violent reckoning.

Danny Huston is in his regular serviceable comic book villain mode, a role he similarly played in both X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and Wonder Woman (2017). Laura Birn, David Bowles and Karel Dobry remain completely immersed in goon mode. Sami Bouajila and Jordan Bolger provide decent support. On the whole, ‘The Crow’ is a lackluster and bleak remake that is tiresome to watch.