PopHorror Let's Get Scared
These days, with everyone so connected the whole world over, it’s tough to go into anything blind and allow yourself to be surprised. Especially if you belong to such an impassioned fan base as that of James O’Barr’s graphic masterpiece, The Crow – a love letter to his late girlfriend. In 1994, the film adaptation of The Crow (our review) transcended the silver screen and a legend was born in Brandon Lee who was killed tragically during filming by a malfunctioning prop gun. With that legend, comes a hefty responsibility for anyone who attempts to step into the celluloid world of The Crow.
The film had three sequels (City of Angels – 1996; Salvation – 2000; Wicked Prayer – 2005) and a short-lived television series (The Crow: Stairway to Heaven – 1998). Now, 30 years after the proverbial lightning struck, we have THE CROW (2024) starring Bill Skarsgård (It: Chapter One, 2017; Barbarian, 2022). Treated like a remake and titled as if it is such, this iteration has not been received well. But I want to give you an objective look at the resurrection of O’Barr’s beloved mythology that will cut through all of the insults and garish first look images and trailers to the heart of the film.
NOTE: For the sake of in-depth discussion as to why this film is getting a positive review among the many negative, there will be spoilers.
I wish from the bottom of my heart, that they hadn’t approached this as a remake. I wish they had more carefully chosen the first look images. By doing so, they set this up for instant failure despite it being – yes, I’m going to say it – the second best film in The Crow franchise. Comparison to the original held so dear by so many, while simultaneously creating a sparsely connected film entirely capable of soaring on its own two wings, was a decision I will never understand.
Eric is a troubled young man with a painful past serving a stint in rehab when the sweet-natured and gregarious Shelly is ushered past his room and he is instantly smitten. She is on the run from her own checkered past and has many questions about Eric’s life to deflect from her own secrets. When her mother and a group of henchmen arrive to collect Shelly, she and Eric escape the rehab center and embark on a whirlwind romance. Shelly is only able to hide for so long, though, and when the bad guys close in, Eric and Shelly are murdered and Shelly’s soul is lost to the depths where all bad souls exist in torment while Eric’s soul is held in purgatory by our harbinger, the crow. Legend has it when someone dies tragically the crow can bring them back to set the wrong things right.
FKA Twigs (Honey Boy, 2019) brings Shelly to life with a balancing act between innocence and edge that sets her worlds apart from the perfectly sweet Shelly that we have come to know through brief flashbacks in the 1994 film. There is no mention of Draven being Skarsgård’s character’s last name. I’d like to think this is the writer’s/director’s subtle way of distancing their creation from the untouchable original film while appeasing the studio machine, but that’s just speculation.
The new film is directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Hunstman, 2012), making his horror genre debut with this bold attempt at reviving a franchise thought to be cursed. You have to give him credit, that is a serious weight to bear.
In the first images and trailer, the chemistry between Twigs and Skarsgård is lost, but for whatever reason, it sizzles in the film. Rather than glimpsing the relationship between our anti-hero and his love interest via flashbacks as in the previous films, THE CROW (2024) is told chronologically. I would argue that this choice did more harm than good in the editing and pacing of this film. They try to squeeze the fully fleshed-out backgrounds and budding relationship of Eric and Shelly in addition to the story of vengeance and redemption that should have remained front and center. This lends itself to the odd editing, clunky pacing, and overcomplication of a simple concept. However, it is still a solid premise and engaging story.
I must say, Bill Skarsgård was criminally underutilized. The “reluctant hero” phase of every good hero’s journey is dragged out for a disproportionate amount of the 1 hour, 51 minute runtime of what we expect to be an intense action-packed film full of clever dialogue and cathartic violence. As you may have heard from Skarsgård himself, he only goes full beast mode for about the last 20 minutes of the film. While this is what I consider a form of torture, once he goes there, it does not disappoint. The final showdown which takes place in a crowded opera house, is a visually stunning, tightly choreographed crescendo worthy of its place in The Crow zeitgeist.
Horror veteran and guaranteed badass, Danny Huston (30 Days of Night, 2007; American Horror Story, 2013) portrays Vincent Roag, a being that has made a deal with the Devil to secure his place in our world. It is with him that a new theme emerges which gives this film its own unique voice: Human flaw.
Roag has the ability to take the tiniest of evil tendencies buried deep within the human psyche and haul it out of his victims, forcing them to commit unspeakable acts. It is an unspeakable act that Shelly has hidden from Eric. And it is this unspeakable act that causes Eric’s proclamation of unconditional love for Shelly to falter, taking the wind right out from beneath the crow that has carried his soul back to avenge her death and save her soul.
Believe me, as a die-hard fan of The Crow (1994), I understand the argument that any kind of reimagining feels genuinely disrespectful to Brandon, the man who died bringing such a memorable story to life. I also knew right from the moment I heard about this revival… that lighting can never strike twice.
What I do not understand is the vicious nature of that resistance to accept anything beyond what Alex Proyas, Brandon Lee, and the rest of the crew on the original film created. O’Barr, himself, has continued to bring his beautiful style of love, loss, and catharsis in a world gone mad in so many new and interesting creations within the mythology of his earliest vision.
I stand firm in my assessment that THE CROW (2024) is the second best film in the franchise. It would be a shame for it to be dismissed entirely as an utter failure, because it is not. And please, to the bigwigs in Hollywood: I’m begging you… listen to your audience, have a little more faith in the people that create your investments, and most of all don’t underestimate your audience’s willingness to seek new and original content. Not everything has to be a remake.
THE CROW (2024) is only in theaters. Catch it before it’s yanked out of IMAX. You won’t regret it.
