The Crow (1994)

(out of 5)

The Crow (1994)
Directed By:  Alex Proyas
Starring:  Brandon Lee, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Bai Ling, John Palito, Tony Todd, David Patrick Kelly
Tagline:  Believe In Angels
Format:  Personal Colleciton NTSC Region 1

     Yeah I know I'm going to go to goth hell for saying it but the Crow really isn't the stupendous film everyone wants it to be.  Yes I love it.  Yes I watch it at least once a year usually around Halloween since it's a Halloween themed film.  Yes it has a great soundtack including a cover song called, "Dead Souls" by my favorite band of all time Nine Inch Nails.  And finally yes the movie is riddled with great cult actors like Tony Todd, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, and David Patrick Kelly but none of these things make up for the fact that the movie tried to damn hard to be this goth masterpiece.  Maybe it's just me but for one the directing itself was not up to par.  I mean the famous window scene is just kind of cheeseball.   There is a lot to like about this movie but I'm sorry I just can't put it up with all the respect that so many horror fans give it.

     A dead musician named Eric Draven (Lee) comes back down from heaven to take revenge on a group of thugs who not only killed Eric but also raped and murdered his fiancee' Shelly Webster on Halloween night.  Shelly was fighting eviction in one of the worst parts of the city and the gang boss Top Dollar (Wincott) who owned the building was not going to have it.  He sent in T-Bird (Kelly) and his friends to go in and take care of the situation.  The gang forced their way into Shelly's apt. gang raped her and when Eric showed up he is stabbed, shot, and tossed out a window several stories up.  Definitely worth returning from the grave in my opinion, love the story in this movie I just can't deal with some of the delivery.  The director was just trying to hard.  I think, the depressing score, the rain, the dark lighting, it was all very cool at the time but the more I watch the movie the more I find myself laughing at it.  Plenty of cool shots in this film most especially of the grungy city streets and the end in the old Church was especially gothic and spectacular. 

     Eric runs around with his crow killing everyone in Top Dollar's gang of thugs including several others from gangs all over the city during a meeting about Devil's Night.  Devil's Night was the name for the city's Halloween annual arson fest and this year Top Dollar wanted, "The gods to notice us again!"  But before his big meeting can finish in drops Eric with his bird requesting the life of Skank one of the thugs who he was hunting down.  Of course Top Dollar says no and orders the room full of bad guys to kill him.  Well that doesn't go over real well in one of my favorite fight scenes of any movie bar none.  One by one the baddies are either killed or thrown out windows.  In this scene literally hundreds of bullets or blanks were fired at Brandon Lee and not one of them was the infamous bullet that killed him.  That unseen scene was a single shot to the head, just strikes me as odd that's all. 

     Brandon Lee could have been so much.  Number one he was Bruce Lee's son one of the most iconic actors of all time.  Two he had the looks and three he was a real martial artist, by no means a Bruce Lee but still better than some of the fakers out there these days.  I mean regardless of what all the goth heads will say he wasn't all that great in the Crow...yes I said it.  A number of scenes I really liked him for example when he took out Gideon's Pawn Shop.  That scene was my favorite, "Is that gasoline I smell?"  haha great line.  Others like the more emotional scenes I just don't think he was as good but he was still rather virgin in his movie career and I won't be one of these idiots who acts like he was the best because he's dead.  Props to the filmmakers for continuing on with the film after death.  I remember reading about it at the time and at first they didn't want to finish it.  I'm glad they did.  Can't imagine Halloween without this movie. 

     The effects in this movie were pretty good for the most part the only effect I didn't like were the falling scenes, Eric falling out the window, Skank getting tossed down into the club area after the big Devil's Night meeting.  Silly visuals on both accounts as was the shot through the hand scene.  Which in that scene the bad effect wasn't as noticeable because Eric is being a crazy man at the time so the focus isn't directly on this obvious computer effect that just looked really bad.  I also don't understand why blood would heal away?  hahahaha!

    Overall I love this movie Eric takes on a pretty rough crew even with being dead and pretty much unstoppable.  I've never seen the other films but as far as this one goes I like it enough to watch at least once a year.  I just hate that so many act like this is a masterpiece of cinema when it is not.  At least in my humble opinion.  It has many "great" things about it or in it.  It's my favorite Michael Wincott performance and the character Gideon the pawn shop owner is great for comic relief.  Bai Ling who played Top Dollar's girlfriend slash sister was very forgettable and in fact just annoys the piss out of me now because she's monotone and dry.  Other than her the acting was very good, I mean we have Ernie Hudson in it and Tony Todd for goodness sake! 

     Lastly this movie was based on a comic book which I've never read so I have no idea nor do I care how close it is to the comic.  I don't compare books and comics to films...well for the most part I just find it silly since the mediums aren't even close to the same.  Especially books with no visual art form other than your own imagination.