Review - The Crow (1994)

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is one '90s movie that I have been anxious to review for a while. The Crow, released in 1994, is based on the comic book by James O'Barr, and stars Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, David Patrick Kelly, Jon Polito, and Tony Todd, and was directed by Alex Proyas. 

      The movie opens with a narration that tells of a legend about how a crow ferries souls to the land of the dead, but sometimes if that soul is full of sorrow due to suffering a great tragedy, then the crow will sometimes bring that soul back to right the wrong that was done. It's here where we see that on the night of October 30th, also known as Devil's Night, a rock musician named Eric Draven and his fiancée Shelly Webster are both found to be either dead or at death's door. Apparently, a gang of criminals led by T-Bird shot and killed Eric, and beat and violated Shelly to near death, only for her to die in the hospital. 

        One year later, and the graves of Eric and Shelly are visited by their friend, a teen girl named Sarah, who leaves flowers for them. Shortly after, a crow lands on Eric's gravestone, taps its beak on the gravestone, and the grave begins to shake and crack open, and Eric Draven is spit back out into the land of the living. Eric later returns to his home, relives the tragedy of his and Shelly's demise, paints his face up, and goes out into the night to seek revenge on T-Bird and his gang. 

        One by one, T-Bird's gang is killed in violent ways by Eric, and this unfortunately gets the attention of the Master crime boss, Top Dollar. Now, Top Dollar, along with his half-sister Myca and his agent Grange, begins looking into a series of events all happening because of Eric, including the destruction of a pawn shop run by a man named Gideon. Also, a police officer named Albrecht takes notice of Eric, as well, and foes what he can to keep the police out of Eric's way. Eric also reunites with Sara, and he finds himself getting Sara's mother clean, and on the path to begin a better parent. Nice. 

        The tone of this movie is extraordinarily dark, and can be really violent through and through. Seeing Eric Draven going across the city, going after them men who killed him and Shelly the year before, and killing them in some of the most brutal ways possible is pretty gruesome, but is absolutely fantastic and a big part of why this movie is so memorable. Also, the movie's soundtrack, which includes tracks from the likes of The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, Pantera, and Nine Inch Nails, is pretty awesome, and the music score by composer Graeme Revell was excellent as well. 

         The performances are what really elevated this movie, with Michael Wincott as Top Dollar, Bai Ling as Myca, and Tony Todd as Grange all being fantastic here. I also enjoyed seeing Ernie Hudson, who I mainly known from Ghostbusters, in a more serious role as Officer Albrecht. David Patrick Kelly as T-Bird and Jon Polito as Gideon were also excellent, and really helped flesh the movie out. Heck, even Rochelle Davis knocked it out of the park as Sara, and I do believe that this was her first film role. 

        Now, everyone has pretty much said what can be said about Brandon Lee as Eric Draven. His performance was absolutely fantastic, and easily one of the finest acting performances of 1994. Now, up until this movie, Brandon Lee, son of the famous Bruce Lee, was predominantly a B-movie actor, and odds are that his performance as Eric Draven would have made him an A-list superstar. Unfortunately, tragedy struck whilst filming The Crow, as unfortunately a dummy round was lodged in the barrel of a prop gun, and when is was dislodged by a blank round, it had the force of a live round, and unfortunately impacted Brandon Lee, who passed away in the hospital shortly after. Luckily, there was only a handful of scenes left for Brandon Lee to film, and they were able to do so through digital face replacement, perspective filming, and use of Chad Stahelski (Brandon's stunt double) as a body double. 

         Despite the tragedy surrounding this movie, and its lead star, The Crow is genuinely one of the best movies of the 1990's. Honestly, director Alex Proyas took James O'Barr's comic book and brought it to life in a way that couldn't have been done again. After all, there were three sequels to The Crow, and all of them were terrible. Truly, The Crow is a one-of-a-kind comic book movie, and I'm giving it a rating of 5/5. Now, I recently found out that Lionsgate Films and director Rupert Sanders are currently getting ready to release a reboot of The Crow this June, with actor Bill Skarsgard, who is mainly known for his roles in It and John Wick Chapter Four, taking on the role of Eric Draven. And, we'll see how that movie turns out. Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.