Review of The Crow (1994) by Jake W — 04 Jul 2011

Much has been mentioned of star Brandon Lee's death during the filming of The Crow. It is tragic, and, if his work in The Crow is indicative of his talent, he could have been well on his way to becoming a much more prominent and well-known star. He exhibits charisma on screen, and, although this movie's chief asset is its visual style and its energy, his performance in the main role creates a likeable character and keeps the audience firmly on his side. The Crow represents a fitting conclusion to Brandon Lee's unfortunately short-lived career in film, being a thoroughly enjoyable action/ comic book movie that has a highly compelling visual style.

The movie's central storyline isn't much to write home about. Basically, Eric Draven, an up-and-coming musician, is killed and his fiancé is beaten and raped, and she later dies from her injuries. One year later, he returns from the grave to seek revenge on the four killers. Meanwhile, he comes in contact with Sarah, a young girl, with a negligent drug dealer for a mother, that Eric and his fiancé cared for while they were alive.

The Crow is a gothic action movie through-and-through. It succeeds because it moves with momentum and has a tremendous energy. There are a number of well-executed actions scenes that are filmed with verve and radiate testosterone. Every scene in fact is filmed with a gothic sensibility to it; a crow for example is a major theme. It brings Eric back to life, and it is heavily featured in the movie. The movie is dark, with almost every scene taking place at night, and the area depicted in the film is amongst the seediest of underbellies. Director Alex Proyas, who would later go on to direct the likes of Dark City and I, Robot, bathes the film in a truly creepy atmosphere that adds much of the appeal to the film. It is easy to see how he would later go to direct the aforementioned Dark City, which, even more-so than this film, is truly a sumptuous visual masterpiece.

On the down-side, there isn't much character development in the film. The movie moves at such a speed that formalities like story and character development must be taken off the priority list. There is a degree of emotional involvement, courtesy of the film's decision to focus on Sarah and her interaction with Eric after he comes back to seek revenge. It adds to the likeability of Eric and thus gives us a further reason to support his cause, in addition to the fact that his targets are quite detestable individuals. This being said though, Eric still isn't a three-dimensional individual, which keeps this film from joining the ranks of the true classics of the revenge genre.

Regardless of such shortcomings, the action is.

Riveting, and, when combined with the highly original and compelling art-style and direction, as well as Lee's likeable performance, this film is a success and a worthy conclusion to the career of Brandon Lee.

Rating: 7.5/10.