Review of The Crow (1994) by Tim S — 15 Dec 2011

Having not seen The Crow in a very long time, I think I can distance myself a bit from it upon a recent viewing. I've gotta be honest here and say that I've never really connected with this movie at all, and I can remember all four occasions on which I watched it, and I still haven't connected with it.

I think I can understand why a little bit now, being a bit more educated on the subject of story and character. First of all, I don't really connect with any of the characters, despite the sympathy being curried for Eric Draven.

.. but, I think that sympathy gears more toward the females in the crowd. It's a very romantic film, but in a very "emo" sort of way, and just nothing I feel like I can relate to. Second, I dislike Rochelle Davis' performance.

Again, it's so "emo" without any sort of range it's unrelatable - plus, her raspy voice (especially during the awful narration) is very grating. Third, I've never understood why Ernie Hudson is in this movie.

To me, he sticks out like a sore thumb, and it feels like a role that he took just because. On the positive side, the movie has some impressive visuals, despite the fact that it's so dark. It has a lot of texture and subtleties in the color palette that make up for the lack of story.

Sure the story is in there, but it's not all that interesting. Things go from A to B rather quickly without much conflict and without much in the way of character or story dynamics. Perhaps that's just me because I'm a dude, and I can't get behind "emo" romanticism.

Anyway, the film is great to look at, but misses its mark as a story, something that I'm told it never recovered from in its sequels. I ownly saw the second one once on video, and barely remember it, so I can neither agree or disagree with that.