Directed By Rupert Sanders

Starring – Bill Skarsgard, FKA twigs, Danny Huston

The Plot – Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right in this modern re-imagining of the 1994 cult classic, “The Crow”.

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, adult language, sexuality/nudity, and drug use.

The Crow (2024) Official Trailer – Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Remaking a definitive cult classic of comic book fandom comes with a steep cost, as hardcore enthusiasts of that 94′ original will have difficulties even giving this Sanders’ film a shot to distinguish it from its predecessor, and while this remake does have problems, I don’t believe that anyone can argue that this film didn’t have heart and respect for its distinguished property. Heart like the brooding gothic atmosphere that not only comes across in the grimly foreboding imagery, with dark and greying color weathering to the canvas, but also the unmistakably adult emphasis to its material that surprisingly made this twice as visceral as the original movie. Sanders as a director makes no qualms about making his audience squirm, with stomach-churning gore during one entertainingly impactful climax to the movie that emphasized Eric’s vengeful rage with unforgiving brutality, all the while making this horror hound holler from the abundance of carnage candy that was continuously being served on his plate. Aside from keep away from the kiddie audiences, the film’s script also makes some daring moves in the depths of its exploration that distances itself from feeling like anything other than the typically phoned-in and familiar remake that we’ve come to expect from these contemporary rehashing’s. While the material certainly isn’t perfect, it deviates from its predecessor by taking its time establishing the love story of Eric and Shelly during the opening act, which not only helps to override the lack of chemistry that Skarsgard and twigs unfortunately generate, but also gives us ample time alongside of the person who Eric was before becoming this entity, which only further outlines the overwhelming tragedy that this couple faced in losing it all during one horrifying invasion. The script also visualizes and contextualizes the horrors of this purgatory world that Eric is continuously caught in, that was merely hinted at during the original film, with much of this crossroads between life and death serving as an opportunity to conjure exposition within the lore of this world-building that some people like myself might not be as educated on. There’s enough slight deviations in the way the film distances and even enhances the stakes and urgency of Eric’s daring mission, compared to the previous film, crafting an overwhelming risk factor that surmises no shortage of empathy or vulnerability for the character, all without sacrificing the permanency or finality of death, which is openly embraced with an exploit into the underworld that physically feels like the manifestation of the unshakeable hell that comes with grief. Lastly, while I initially had some reservations about Skarsgard attempting to fill the shoes of the legendary Brandon Lee, who unfortunately died on the set of filming the 94′ original movie, he very much makes the role his own, with a portrayal that vividly balances the heart and humanity of Eric with the voraciously persistent side of this undead entity. Skarsgard doesn’t use humor as a means of psychological prodding, like Lee, but his sensitivity during candid moments with Shelly supplanted an endearing and hopeful side to the characterization of Eric that balanced out the voraciousness of his vengeful appetite, and while Skarsgard never quite feels as intimidating psychologically as Lee, he has definitely put in work with regards to his body, which sees Bill stacking on thirty pounds of muscle for the role, as he’s been documented to reveal.

NEGATIVES

Though better than initially interpreted, ‘The Crow’ still suffers from unflattering aspects to its engagement, primarily with the second act of its screenplay, which can’t capably evade conventionalism in the same way the first and third acts capably did, leading to evidential problems to its foundation that crumbles under the immense pressure of its fanbase. While I love Danny Huston as an actor, this antagonist is as flat and by-the-numbers as any that I’ve seen this decade, with no kind of characterization to distinguish him, or at least allow Danny to inject some kind of personality to his cause. This is mostly because the script makes the unfortunate decision to follow Eric throughout the entirety of the film, instead of using his opposition as a buffer, which not only squanders the mystique of his unpredictable and spontaneous arrivals, but also tragically undercuts the impact and magnitude of Eric’s newfound abilities, with nothing depicted in the way of shock or awe to magnify their fear or vulnerability towards him, despite so much favor in the way of overwhelming odds. During this second act, predictability starts to weigh in, and the movie’s dialogue falls by the wayside with such on-the-mark and meandering lines that are meant to hold the hands of their audience, and while I was never bored because the 100 minute run time allows very little time for such, I can say that my investment became tested in waiting for the fullest extent of this transformation to take shape. In addition to a weak second act, the editing is a bit sloppy and confrontational with the sequencing of certain first act scenes, creating more confusion to the storytelling than I would care to admit. For a lot of these scenes, it certainly feels like they were hemmed or shortened for time, but for a distinct few, a scene will abruptly cut and overlap to the one following it, making it feel like a dream or something taking shape in the mind of the protagonist, but in reality serving as continuation into the endless hell that becomes Eric’s life. Clearly, there were better ways to orchestrate such an intention, especially in that it left me frequently scrambling to attain some sense of detection with where we were at, between respective worlds, in turn giving the film a rambunctious structure during its opening act that might test audience investment during those few crucial moments. The technical snafus carry over to some unintentionally laughable C.G and make-up designs for Eric Draven that left plenty more to be desired, especially in the depths of the aforementioned riveting climax that nearly compromised the integrity of some of the year’s most impactful deaths. Artificial blood is the culprit to the cause that splashes so unnaturally, and even though the movie’s intentionally dark presentation could obscure such post-production inserts, the setting of the climax carries with it a bold allowance of light that smothers the intention of the purpose, in turn emitting these glaring instances that distracted instead of corresponded to such vitriolic rage. Finally, one major drop-off in quality from the previous film is in the soundtrack of assembled artists, which here overwhelmingly underwhelms in comparison to one of 1994’s best soundtracks. While music is certainly subjective on the tastes of the listener, the songs here couldn’t even rhythmically or lyrically compliment the moods and themes of the scenes they were accommodating, with most of them echoing a similarly dreary tone that dulled instead of drove the integrity of these exciting sequences to climactic levels. Considering the first film offered a rich versatility in genres, artists and instrumentals, the one-note variety here doesn’t attain enough notoriety to feeling influential, leaving one grave overlooking by the production, on the importance of music to this world.

OVERALL
‘The Crow’ isn’t on the level of its cult classic original, but it’s far from the overwhelming catastrophe that people labeled it as, in viewing a three-minute trailer, with as little context as artistically possible. Skarsgard silences the critics with a firm balance on the emotionality of Eric Draven, and though Sanders direction vividly elicits familiarity in the gothic ambiance of a world plagued by tragedy, some of its distinguishable aspects go overlooked and unnoticed, resulting in a remake with effort, but very little energy.

My Grade: 5/10 or D