Review of The Crow (1994) by Mike P — 04 Sep 2014

Brandon Lee's bon voyage performance that has become his most iconic and probably most beloved. The Crow was way ahead of the game as far as comic book films are concerned becoming one of the few successes between Batman and X-Men and the beginning of the comic book wave.

For good reason this one still holds up to date corny catch phrases and all. Vastly superior than any of the Punisher adaptations this coming from a man that likes 2 of the 3 attempts. In many ways this is the Punisher's story only better.

Good old fashioned revenge highlights the plot to this visually stunning, action packed surprise from the mid nineties. Lee may not be Pacino or DeNiro with his performance, but he was charming nonetheless as the former guitar player turned reincarnated vigilante that avenges the death of his girl friend and himself at the hands of a local gang lead by Michael Wincott and his sinister girlfriend/sister.

The supporting roles aren't without their charm either including Ernie Hudson, the little girl actress, the promise i'd kill you last guy from Commando, and especially Wincott as the orchestrator of all the chaos gripping The Crow's city.

The downside of the film is merely the problems most of these movies have and that's with its cliché action beats at times or inferior dialogue between Lee and various characters. Sometimes it works other times not so well, but all evens out by the end.

The visual style here is arguably more copied than THE MATRIX which is still 5 years away and that film arguably borrows heavily from the style used here. This bad boy is a classic cult film that delivers on all the beats that it should despite cheesy dialogue and familiar setups.

The action hits most of the right beats and doesn't pull its punches like so many action films do today to brighten it up for the kiddies. No doubt the soon to be remade Crow will be PG13. Not this one and hopefully the producers of the new one will take proper notes and got for the R.