THE PREMISE:

"Exactly one year after young rock guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally killed by a ruthless gang of criminals, Draven – watched over by a hypnotic crow – returns from the grave to exact revenge." 

OUR REFLECTION:

Feeling like a gothic superhero movie with the aesthetic of a 90’s grunge music video, The Crow perfectly embellishes in the era it’s from. The film is so unabashedly and endearingly 90’s, it confuses this critic on why a remake would even be considered. More on that later, though.

The Crow stars the late Brandon Lee, known for being the son of Bruce Lee, as Eric Draven, a man who was killed trying to save his fiancee from a group of thugs that broke into their loft. One year after his death, Eric mysteriously emerges from his grave with a crow acting as an extension of himself as well as supernatural strength and healing, using his second chance at life to hunt down the group that killed him and his fiancee. That is, after he applies some makeup while “Burn” by The Cure blasts in the background.

It’s one of those films where objectively nothing works, but, subjectively, I will never blame someone for listing this as their favorite film. From its grimy night exteriors seemingly bridging the representation of Gotham City from Tim Burton’s and Matt Reeves’ Batman films to its all-hits-no-misses grunge soundtrack to even its simple, saccharine throughline involving Eric Draven and Sarah Mohr (a kid Eric helped raise when he was alive), The Crow is an absolute blast that lends itself to be a top contender for anyone’s VHS collection.

Yes, that’s right, I said VHS! As much of a snob I can be about making sure to watch movies in the highest quality possible, The Crow’s blu-ray shows the imperfections of the film’s visual effects that a VHS or even DVD could hide. The clarity of the image, though lovingly remastered, removes a lot of charm from the imagery.

Speaking of charm, Brandon Lee oozes with it whenever he’s on screen. There’s an aura about him that shows you how committed he is to the role of Eric Draven, pushing himself as an actor in areas you would never consider needing emphasis based on the script. It’s a shame, as those who note The Crow’s legacy point out, that this is Brandon Lee’s last role, having passed due to faulty prop bullets during the filming of this movie. The film is dedicated to him and his fiancee Eliza Hutton, both of whom were planning to wed a week after the film’s production.

With The Crow wielding the legacy as one of Brandon Lee’s crowning achievements, plus how it feels perfectly in tune with its 1994 production value, does a modern remake make sense? Alex Proyas, the director of the 1994 version, says no, and I’m inclined to agree. Though the films are based on a comic book series with a generous amount of source material, remaking it with a strong intention of franchising in the modern Hollywood era feels… icky and unnecessary. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a film that objectively shouldn’t work but, thanks to the cast and crew involved, it’s seamlessly entertaining. In short, The Crow is lightning in a bottle, and remaking it in 2024 already feels like a misunderstanding of what makes the 1994 film a classic.

But hey, maybe this critic is wrong. You can read our review of the 2024 version here to find out!