What are you doing I remember the 1994 film the most The Crow? Is it the soundtrack, a halfway perfect hodgepodge of industrial music MVPs (My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Machines of Loving Grace, Nine Inch Nails), next-generation alt-rock (Helmet, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots), and goth royalty (The Cure)? The reimagining of Detroit as a dystopian hellscape? The evil lovers Michael Wincott and Bai Ling dancing around a dimly lit cave and setting new standards for #CreepyCoupleGoals? The cute skateboarding twink explaining to Detective Ernie Hudson that onions on hot dogs make you fart? The fact that the whole thing feels like a murderous mime accidentally walked into a Stabbing Westward music video?
Or is it the tragedy that struck the film’s lead actor and cast a shadow over this blockbuster, although it secured the film’s glorious legacy? It came exactly halfway between Tim Burton’s Batman and the first X-Men This adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic books – about a man who rises from the dead to avenge his murdered girlfriend – was one of several early forays into darker superhero cinema. But the film was originally intended to launch Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, as a new action star. His accidental death on set, eight days before shooting began, initially gave the project a morbid tone. But his performance remains the film’s very best feature, and what could have been blatant exploitation becomes a tribute to the charismatic actor at the center of it all. You’re enthralled by Lee’s undeniable presence and mourn the career that could have been.
Therefore The Crow 2024 is in a bit of a bind from the start: The press was quick to say that director Rupert Sanders’ version isn’t a remake, “but a reimagining of the original graphic novel,” noted. Still, it’s safe to assume that despite the numerous versions of O’Barr’s vengeful, resurrected hero appearing in half a dozen publisher books over the past 35 years, more people associate this particular intellectual property with a single big-screen outing. That’s the nostalgia and brand recognition they’re hoping to cash in on, for better or worse. But trying to cast someone in a role synonymous with both a specific actor and a grief-filled backstory ups the difficulty level tremendously. Remember how much you loved the first movie? Cool! Now forget the guy who was in it, and the whole “curse” thing, and the plot in general, but not so much that you wouldn’t buy a ticket or give a new Crow a chance!
The good news: They made a smart choice when they looked for someone to fill Demonia’s shoes. Bill Skarsgård can play a smooth action hero and a scary nightmare with equal ease; if you need someone to play a killing machine or a killer clown, he’s your guy. Skarsgård is also exactly the kind of offbeat sexy that turns working actors into internet friends, and he could sell the idea of a doomed romantic who would literally go through hell for the object of his affection. Give the tall, pale and handsome Swede some smeared mascara, a long black trench coat (but no shirt), and a razor-sharp shag, and you have the ideal poster boy for Hot Mall-Goth Summer. It helps that he’s also, you know, really talented and can carry a movie.
Now comes the bad part: There is not much of a film to carry. True to the word of the marketing department, The Crow 2.0 is not a remake of the original film. As for returning to the source material… let’s just say the “reimagining” does a lot of work here. The basic elements are there and accounted for, as there is indeed a deep bond between Skarsgård’s Eric Draven and his true love Shelly, played by FKA Twigs; his character does (spoiler) die; a crow guides him back to the land of the living; he dresses like he’s auditioning for a Bauhaus cover band; and then the shit hits the fan. The general croaking remains the same.
From there, however, this new crow goes in several directions, none of which do much to reinterpret, expand or improve on O’Barr’s notion of an avenging angel settling scores. There’s a reference to a trauma in Eric’s past that leads him to a rehabilitation center where he’s bullied and ostracized. This is also the scene of his meet-cute with Shelly, who uses rehab to hide from the bad people who are looking for her. As the pair elope to the sounds of Joy Division’s “Disorder” — the soundtrack backing K-Tel’s biggest ’80s goth/synth hits with ’90s rock as well as opera and (checks notes) Enya – they hide out in a friend’s fancy apartment, have lots of stylishly filmed sex, and later meet up with friends at a lake. For the first half, their story of lovers on the run takes precedence over anything remotely mythical or supernatural. Sanders and screenwriters Zach Baylin and William Schneider will get to the superheroes in due course. But first, they want to give you Crowmeo and Julia.
Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs in The Crow
Larry Horricks/Lionsgate
In theory, this is a good idea: Why not let the audience develop a bond with these characters before evil tears them apart and the violence begins in earnest? In execution, this emphasis on Skarsgård and FKA Twigs whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears degenerates into a cross between a pseudo-erotic perfume commercial and outtakes from a failed young adult novel series, and couldn’t seem more lazy. But we know danger is afoot, as Danny Huston has made some sort of deal where he sends other people’s souls to hell so he doesn’t have to go himself, and he has the ability to coo a sort of evil ASMR that causes people to become either stinging or self-destructive. The how, when, and why of this is left to your imagination, whether intentional or not. We also know that his henchmen are after Shelly because she has a video in her possession that Huston wants; Whether these thugs are also close to Satan or are simply well-dressed lackeys of corporations, or both or neither, is anyone’s guess.
Eventually the bad guys catch up with them, both are murdered, and Eric wakes up in a limbo full of steel beams and birds. Lots and lots of birds. After a long time of switching back and forth between the worlds of the living and the dead waiting to be released, he makes a deal with a mysterious man (Sami Bouajila): his soul for Shelly’s. The catch is that Eric has to kill everyone responsible for her death. Luckily, he has crows on his side – hurrah! – and can feel pain, but not be killed.
Upon his return, Eric roams the dirty, stage-like streets (you remember that Sanders is responsible for both Snow White and the Huntsman and this live action Ghost in the Shell, and has a weakness for dark revisionist chic) and is often hurt. The Crow lets him finally become a vigilante in an opera house, makes up for lost time by summarizing the murders and lots of blood in 10 minutes in horror film format. Cool. Not even mutated into Death wish in pancake makeup, however, can salvage what seems like a futile attempt to reintroduce an iconic character from a cult comic/movie into today’s superhero-filled entertainment landscape. It doesn’t take long to realize that what was intended to be a franchise starter is, unlike its hero, permanently dead.
