The Crow, 9/10

[Ender]

The Crow
1994
Director: Alex Proyas
Cast: Brandon Lee, Rochelle David, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott

Plot: Eric Draven and his fiance Shelly Winters are murdered by gangbangers the night before their wedding. One year later, Eric's soul is returned to the land of the living, gifted with immortality and bizarre powers, to avenge his murder.

Critique: God I love this movie. I'll be the first to admit that it's flawed, especially the dialouge, but there are enough redeeming qualities here to more than compensate for the lags. Normally whenever a small press comic is adapted to the big screen, it strays so far from the original material that the whole affair blows donkey ass (Spawn, Faust, Judge Dredd, Tank Girl, ect.). The Crow stays true to it's roots, and as a result is one damn cool movie.

Cast: Where to start, Brandon Lee, Brandon Lee, or Brandon Lee? Brandon does it all, the angst, the passion, the dementia, even the macabre humor (you got to admit, that Jesus joke was killer). He was an incredibely talented young man, with excellent range and great insight into his character. He also looked pretty damn intimidating, so much so that profesional wrestler Sting blatantly ripped off the image (Which I'm guilty of as well. If you ever want to find me on Halloween, I'm the guy with the face paint and trench coat). Rochelle David plays Draven's young friend Sarah. As child actors go, I've seen worse. I've seen better too, but let's not dwell on that. Ernie Hudson is a tough call. His part as the jaded street cop is utterly contrived and absoloutely unneccesary, but he has a hell of a time with it, and adds more to the movie than you would have thought possible with such a poor role. Michael Wincott rounds out this checkered cast as Top Dollar, the movie's primary villain (with a goofy name, I might add). Now, what's the deal with this guy? He's a solid actor with an intriguing part, so why wasn't his character explored more deeply? I mean, what do we really learn about him through the course of the movie? He's a mob boss, he's into some weird supernatural hoodoo, and he's waaaaaay too close to that sister of his. Shouldn't there be more to it than that?

Directing: This is Proyas' first movie, and he doesn't hold back. Lots of dark imagery, loud music, and tricky camera work. The flashbacks aree beautifully done, and Proyas breaks them up throughout the movie, making them all that more effective. The crow flying sequences are dizzying, and the fist fights have a very graphic edge to them. Violence-wise, he does a lot by showing a little, which is a tough trick to pull. My one big gripe is the central action sequence in the board room, which seemed way too over-the-top in comparison to the rest of the movie.

The Bottom Line: Good movie. Great movie. One of the best of the last ten years, and one that has had a lot of influence on me personally. Trust me, after watching The Crow, you'll never take anything in your life for granted again.

[This message has been edited by Ender (edited 11-28-2001).]

[countchocula]

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I’m ashamed to announce that two nights ago was the first time that I had seen The Crow in its entirety. When it first hit video, I was at a party that the nextdoor neighbors were throwing. The adults remained downstairs, indulging in alcohol and playing pool, while the kids (if memory serves me correct, ranging from 10-15 years of age) watched The Crow. The first ten minutes or so seemed cool enough, but suddenly, I fell asleep! This wasn’t due to the film being dull and tedious, but it was late at night and I was exhausted. By the time I woke up, the closing credits were rolling. Disappointment. I wanted to see the film through, but such wasn’t meant to be. Fast forward to this past weekend. I saw The Crow on sale for $6.99, and I figured that it would be irrational and foolhardy of me to simply pass it up.

I now know why this film has cultivated a rabid cult following. This is a brooding, stylish, emotional, and highly entertaining chunk of melancholy art. Since we start with Eric Draven rising from his grave, I was afraid that we wouldn’t get a close examination of his ill-fated relationship with his fiancée. Luckily, I was in the wrong. Despite only getting succinct glimpses at their unconditional love for one another, their bond is fully fleshed out and we are struck hard by their tragedy. This makes it easy to root for Draven. We feel his anguish, his grief, his anger, his sense of desperation, his entire spectrum of emotions. But we might not have been able to feel so much without Brandon Lee’s tour de force performance. Not once did I get the impression that was merely acting for the sake of acting. He became Draven. He was Draven. I have yet to see the sequels, but I’ll just make a wild assumption that the later Crow films didn’t have a hero that was half as believable and well-developed as this one. Draven also spits out some great one-liners and kicks a wide variety of ass, which delivered on the “mindless entertainment” front. If only all big-budget action flicks could find a healthy balance between heartfelt drama and popcorn fun.

I’ve owned the soundtrack for awhile, so I’ve been pre-programmed to enjoy the background music here. Whenever a cool song would pop up during the proceedings, I didn’t feel that it was cheapening the tension or stripping the scene of its content (Resident Evil); the music actually fit the situation at hand. As a matter of fact, The Cure’s “Burn” could have been played throughout the entire film and it wouldn’t have felt forced or repetitious. That song is what the film’s imagery would sound like. Speaking of the imagery, I must take a moment to applaud Alex Proyas for being flawless behind the camera. We get moody lighting, torrents of rain, slick cinematography, and creative camera angles. What I really appreciate about the directing is that it doesn’t overexert itself where style is concerned. It’s just stylish enough for it not to be unadorned, but it’s not stylish to the point of it seeming like a ploy to bury a thin storyline. Our villains are wonderfully vile and malicious. It was a treat seeing Tony Todd in a role that he doesn’t usually play. Yeah, he’s played the villain before, but here, he’s a tad more humanized and isn’t severely limited to having one character trait.

SPOILER

I do have one complaint. I didn’t particularly care for the way that Draven dispatches the main baddie. The “Here, I’ll give you pain!” tactic felt like it was something that was made up on the spot. I understand that he has some supernatural abilities, but where did that come from? Why didn’t he just “touch” all of his other victims if that’s all it takes? Maybe that power is only good for one serving. Whatever. That’s the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way, though. The rest of this package is top-notch filmmaking. I’m debating whether or not I should even bother with the rest of this series. I might check out the forthcoming entry just to see how Ed Furlong does. Or maybe the third installment to stare at Jodi Lynn O’Keefe. Now there’s an idea!

My rating-4.5/5

[SPEEDRAZOR]

it puts a big ol' smile on my face anytime anyone brings up my favourite movie! thanks guys!

[krazy drako]

I remember when I was first introduced to this movie in the 6th grade. Ever since than it's been my favorite movie.


If I were to start writing a review, it would take 5 pages of praising and one paragraph of bad. Thats how great I think this movie is.


my rating - 10/10 :D