My Review of The Crow (1994)

 

Written by David J. Show And John Shirley

Directed by Alex Proyas

Eric: "Little things used to mean so much to Shelly- I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial."

With a reboot due for release later this month, I thought it was time to revisit this movie and maybe actually bother with the sequel. Has it really been thirty years since it's debut? Apparently it has. Has the movie stood the test of time? I think it has done, yes.

In this movie, our protagonist was a man who died a year ago. Rockstar Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his girlfriend, Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas) were the victims of a gang related death buteven in death, there's no rest for the wicked. That's quickly proven with the resurrection of Draven himself.

Aided by a mystical crow, Eric was on a one man mission to kill every single gang member responsible for his and Shelly's deaths. It was a mission that Eric certainly had fun with and while he possessed a certain degree of invulnerability, he wasn't entirely immune to being hurt. Not to mention, his revenge plans attracted attention from other characters, who'd get caught in his path.

These characters included a good cop named Daryl Albrecht (Ernie Hudson). He had previously failed Eric in the past but was determined to amend that once he was aware of Eric's presence. Then there was Sarah Mohr (Rochelle Davis), a young girl who saw Eric as a surrogate brother figure but also she was someone whom the main antagonist could leverage against Eric.

The main antagonist of the movie was a more typical gangster in Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) with the enigmatic Myca (Bai Ling) as a second in command. He's a ruthless enough baddie, not above threatening Sarah's life in order to get Eric. Of course, like every other baddie in this movie, he's given a very fitting death.

The deaths in question are a highlight here. Eric specifically chose different ones to suit each person who caused his and Shelly's deaths. By the end of this movie, Eric had gotten his revenge, his soul was at peace and there was a clear sequel hook in place with Sarah regifted Shelly's ring by the crow.

- Brandon Lee who played Eric Draven tragically died during filming. 

- There's a good subplot where Eric scared Sarah's mother, Darla (Anna Levine) into getting clean.

- Gang members who were taken out included Grange (Tony Todd), T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly), Tin Tin (Laurence Mason) and Funboy (Michael Massee).

- Chad Stahelski was both a stunt and body double for Brandon Lee, including completing scenes, following Lee's death.

Standout music: Stone Temple Pilots Big Empty.

- Chronology: There's a Halloween setting for this movie, following a year since Eric and Shelly's deaths.

The Crow does live up to it's hype,though a movie more associated with the tragic passing of it's lead actor than the actual quality itself. It's an interesting tale of revenge and rather darkly comic to boot. It's also very 90s, which ain't a bad thing.

Rating: 8 out of 10