During the rise of comic book films in the ’90s, there used to be an assumed messiness to these adaptations. After all, how could a single movie be expected to capture the totality of years of character nuances and storylines as seen in print? While some adaptations lent themselves to a simplified approach, others felt like a high-wire act in the way they tried to tackle as many aspects of the source material as possible. Alex Proyas’ 1994 adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel, The Crow, is one of these impressively gonzo films, combining elements of film noir, Gothic romanticism, exploitation revenge thriller, horror, and more into a coherent narrative. Even more impressive, the tragic loss of star Brandon Lee didn’t derail the entire production, and Lee’s excellent final performance was able to be seen in a movie whose shortcomings and overly ambitious concepts only made it more endearing.
Given the original movie’s success, it seemed natural that a franchise should be born. However, The Crow: City of Angels failed at its attempt to graft the original’s aesthetic and structure onto new characters in a new location. Its direct-to-video sequel, The Crow: Salvation, found some measure of success by simplifying the series’ most repeatable elements. This approach, though, was almost gleefully abandoned by The Crow: Wicked Prayer, throwing caution to the wind by introducing way too many tangential aspects and tonal shifts for any script to balance. All this is to say that, as a franchise, The Crow has been consistently inconsistent, never settling into an easy groove. While that’s left the fandom generally reverent of the original film and dismissive of the sequels, it does seem on par for the titular character’s inner torment, brought back from the dead to seek justice that may be impossible.
Thus, the fact that The Crow (2024) is messy comes as no surprise. The Crow reboot has been languishing in development hell for so long that it became a running joke at one point. In this light, the script’s numerous inconsistencies and elliptical, unexplained elements seem to only prove the assumption that this venture was doomed from the start. Yet, there’s also a lot of ambition and passion on display in The Crow (2024), as director Rupert Sanders, his cast, and crew make this adaptation feel genuine in its efforts. This isn’t a lazy pandering to the fanbase, nor is it a soulless cash-grab attempt to restart a franchise. The Crow (2024), like its titular character, tattoos its heart on itself, telling a Faust-esque, horror-soaked love story mashed up with a merciless revenge action thriller. It doesn’t always work, but when it hits, it soars.
Bill Skarsgård in ‘The Crow’ courtesy of Lionsgate
The bare bones of the plot are the same as the 1994 film, though that could be said of each subsequent Crow sequel, making The Crow (2024) more of a new installment than a direct remake. Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (singer-turned-actress FKA twigs) are troubled people with shady pasts who meet when they’re both in a rehab facility. They decide to escape that de facto prison once Shelly’s old benefactor, the malevolent Vincent (Danny Huston), comes knocking thanks to her having an incriminating video featuring one of Vincent’s occult crimes. That’s right; Vincent is in league with demonic forces, lending him criminal authority over the movie’s deliberately unnamed city. Thus, Vincent’s goons eventually find the star-crossed lovers and murder them.
However, a mysterious figure in the afterlife known as Kronos (Sami Bouajila) informs Eric that Vincent’s pact with evil has thrown off the cosmic balance so much that he’ll send Eric back to the land of the living with newfound immortality and one prime directive: “Kill ‘em all.” At this point, The Crow (2024) seems to downshift when it should be zooming forward, and the glacial second act is the most egregious of the movie’s handful of sins. The early moments are wonderfully intriguing, with Bill Skarsgård (It, John Wick: Chapter 4) and FKA twigs’ easy chemistry selling their beautifully doomed romance. At the same time, Danny Huston whispers occult nothings into the ears of his victims, the better to give them Evil Dead-style, all-white eyes as they do his dark bidding.
Director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman, 2017’s Ghost in the Shell), in conjunction with cinematographer Steve Annis and production designer Robin Brown, gives The Crow (2024) a slick, polished, David Fincher-like look that doesn’t call too much attention to itself. Even its most outrageous environment — purgatory, essentially — is imagined as a cascading series of abandoned train stations, which is as good an example as any of the film’s grounded approach to the source material’s more fantastical elements. The Crow (2024) wants to indulge in big, grandiose themes but never loses sight of flesh and blood reality, a commendable aim. That aesthetic choice means some of the Gothic atmosphere of James O’Barr’s graphic novel and Alex Proyas’ original film is lost, even as Sanders attempts to remix it into his new vision for the character.
Bill Skarsgård in ‘The Crow’ courtesy of Lionsgate
While early images of Bill Skarsgård in his Crow costume, with his muscular frame and many emo tattoos, unfavorably recalled such things as Soundcloud rapper chic and Jared Leto’s Joker from Suicide Squad, Eric’s appearance in the context of the story is well-handled. He is believably streetwise, and his hobby as a graphic artist makes his tattoos an extension of his creative instincts more than some faux-tough persona. Rupert Sanders provides a lot of moodily lit, rain-soaked moments, yet the movie isn’t overtly Gothic on the visual front. Instead, The Crow (2024) relies on its electro-tinged score (courtesy of Volker Bertelmann) and needle-drop cues from the likes of Joy Division and Gary Numan to connect to that Goth vibe. They may come off as somewhat forced at first, but the cues eventually blend; it’s possible that aspiring artists like Eric and Shelly would listen to what are now golden oldies.
To the credit of Rupert Sanders and screenwriters Zach Baylin and William Josef Schneider, they are attempting to deal with the emotional truth of Eric’s plight in a different way from prior Crow films, muddying the moral waters by calling into question not just Eric’s goals (as well as those of the forces who sent him on his mission) but Shelly’s innocence, the couple’s love for each other (is it pure or just misguided?), the motives and victimization of the so-called villains, and so on. The problem is that all these digressions take away from the propulsive nature that an action film, revenge thriller, and horror movie need, putting The Crow (2024) off its intended course for a little too long. Fortunately, this is rectified by the film’s climactic action setpiece, which happily includes some of the gnarliest kills you’ll see in a movie this year.
It’s entirely possible that the various loose ends, vagueness, and hastily papered-over logic of The Crow (2024) is the end product of too many cooks in the kitchen or other behind-the-scenes woes. Yet, so much being left to the viewer’s imagination and Rupert Sanders’ inspired vision make for a compelling mixture, especially during a time when most franchise films bend over backward to over-explain everything and can end up feeling too stifled or rote. Make no mistake: The Crow (2024) is flawed and will probably not win over diehard fans of the classic 1994 movie, but it’s the bright spots in between those flaws that keep it from being dull or forgettable. As Shelly tells Eric when he asks her what drew her to him: “You seemed beautifully broken.” The Crow (2024) is broken, but beautifully so.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Crow (2024) hits theaters on August 23!
Release Date: August 23, 2024.
Directed by Rupert Sanders.
Screenplay by Zach Baylin & William Schneider.
Based on The Crow by James O’Barr.
Produced by Edward R. Pressman, Samuel Hadida, Victor Hadida, John Jencks, & Molly Hassell.
Executive Producers: Jonathan Bross, Dan Friedkin, Micah Green, Jon Katz, Juliana Lubin, Joe Neurauter, Sam Pressman, William Josef Schneider, Joe Simpson, Daniel Steinman, Kevan Van Thompson, & Simon Williams.
Main Cast: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, Isabella Wei, & Jordan Bolger.
Cinematographer: Steve Annis.
Composer: Volker Bertelmann.
Production Companies: Pressman Film, Davis Films, The Electric Shadow Company, Ashland Hill Media Finance, Hassell Free Productions, Media Capital Technologies, & 30West.
Distributor: Lionsgate.
Runtime: 111 minutes.
Rated R.
Credit: discussingfilm.net
