Movie Review: ‘The Crow’

An aimless rehash of the 1994 cult classic that was marked by a tragic real-life death, ‘The Crow’ can’t find its own identity and settles for mediocrity.

Bill Skarsgård in 'The Crow.' Photo Credit: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate. Copyright: © 2022 Yellow Flower LLC.

Opening in theaters August 23 is ‘The Crow,’ directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger.

Initial Thoughts

Here’s a little secret: this writer has never been a huge fan of the original 1994 movie ‘The Crow.’ At the time, it seemed dreary, gratuitous, and largely a case of style over substance, with simplistic characters and a reactionary, nihilistic narrative. But the death of lead actor Brandon Lee -- who was accidentally shot on the set and died later from his injuries, just a few days before the end of filming -- cast an unmistakably somber pall over the film that one would have to be a robot not to feel. Lee is great despite the movie around him, but there is also a ghostly aura around his presence onscreen that permeates the entire movie and lifts an otherwise ho-hum revenge thriller into a different light that has since made it a cult classic.

Fairly or not, taking the mystique and legend of Lee out of the equation, as the new remake of ‘The Crow’ does, leaves you with nothing but the ho-hum revenge thriller. Despite the best efforts of star Bill Skarsgård (who’s cornering the market on movie monsters with his past portrayal of Pennywise the Dancing Clown in ‘It’ and his upcoming title turn in ‘Nosferatu’) and a few inspired moments, this long-in-development reboot from director Rupert Sanders (‘Snow White and the Huntsman’) is dull, derivative, and predictable, lacking in energy both from its direction, its style, and even its cast.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs in 'The Crow.' Photo Credit: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate.

The new ‘Crow,’ written by Zach Baylin and William Schneider, keeps the bones of the story (based on the original 1989 graphic novel by James O’Barr) but adds a convoluted new set-up to get us to the main plot. Skarsgård’s Eric Draven is in a rehab facility in a rather vague location (it appears to be out in relatively sunny countryside, while the unnamed city where the primary action takes place is perpetually dark and rainy) for rather vague reasons (a flashback reveals he watched a treasured animal die as a child) when he meets fellow resident Shelly (FKA Twigs), a musician who allowed herself to get arrested for possession of drugs and sent to the facility to avoid an even darker fate.

This is where ‘The Crow’ 2024 diverges sharply from the 1994 film: whereas the villains in that movie were local Detroit thugs (yes, that movie was set in Detroit; the new one is supposed to be set in an American city but was shot in Germany and Prague) who were looking to take over the apartment building where Eric and Shelly make their home, the antagonist here is Vincent Roag (a bored Danny Huston), who is apparently immortal thanks to a deal he made with the Devil ages ago. That deal involves using a demonic voice to whisper in people’s ears and make them either kill themselves or someone nearby, thus corrupting their soul and sending them to hell. Shelly has been used in this fashion by Roag to murder someone, thus damning her, but she has the whole thing on videotape (although how it’s going to bring him down remains frustratingly unclear).

It's a needlessly complicated back story that diminishes the power of Eric himself becoming a supernatural being. Which, of course, is what eventually happens. He and Shelly rather easily escape rehab just ahead of Roag’s goon squad (led by ‘Foundation’ star Laura Birn, who deserves better) and enjoy an inexplicably idle montage of hanging out at a lake with their friends or making sweet love and/or music together (the timeline in this film is really murky). But Roeg’s minions catch up with them again at Eric’s apartment, suffocating both of them in a harrowing sequence as they watch each other die.

Eric is sent to a gray CG afterlife that looks like the outside of an abandoned railyard, where ghostly mentor Kronos (Sami Bouajila) provides the necessary exposition for the film to move forward. Eric is dead, but he can return to the land of the living and avenge Shelly’s death, or “put the wrong things right.” His physical body can heal from any wound, as long as his love for Shelly remains “pure.” And he can save her damned soul as well – but at a much higher cost.

From there, it becomes a rather standard stalk-and-kill scenario, albeit with copious amounts of CG blood (God, how we miss karo syrup sometimes) and some enjoyably bonkers deaths, particularly in one extended battle in an opera house that leaves Eric standing amidst a pile of severed limbs and heads (two of which he dispatches in unintentionally hilarious fashion). But while Eric faced distinctive villains like Michael Wincott’s Top Dollar and his moll Myca (Bai Ling) back in 1994, his enemies here are just a bunch of the usual burly, vaguely Eastern European-looking security guys in nice suits, whom Roag seems to have in endless supply. The title bird, a sort of spirit guide in the first film, just kind of tags along in this one.

There’s an overall lack of suspense, energy, or tension in the proceedings, as everyone seems to know that they’re going through some predictable paces. The eventual confrontation between Eric and Roag, after just about everyone else has been killed, is as disappointingly flat as everything else on display here. The Goth aesthetic and alternative/metal soundtrack of the original film have been replaced with a generalized gray-brown murk and actually some pretty good songs from the likes of Foals, Enya, and Traitrs. But the overall style that made the first film such a cultural touchpoint of its time simply cannot be channeled in the same way.

The Cast

(L to R) Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs in 'The Crow.' Photo Credit: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate.

We very much enjoyed Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the ‘It’ movies, as well as his turns in films like ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and ‘Barbarian.’ And while it’s unfair to judge him against Brandon Lee, the latter is such an integral part of the ‘Crow’ legacy and a dominant presence in the original film. It’s not possible to disregard the fact that while Lee was able to transcend the material, Skarsgård can’t. He gives it his best shot, but the emotional undercurrents simply aren’t there, while his patchwork look of random tattoos, choppy hair, and disheveled clothing doesn’t do anything to build his character.

There is also no chemistry between him and FKA Twigs, who gives a dead-eyed, monotone performance in a crucial role. Some of the scenes between Twigs and Skarsgård simply lapse into silence, as if they have nothing more to say to each other, and Twigs is not a strong enough actor to flesh Shelly out. A subplot involving her relationship with her mother (Josette Simon) goes largely unexplored and mostly forgotten, but based on this we’re not sure Twigs can handle anything too complex anyway. In a movie already existing on a purely surface level, an actor needs all the tools they can muster, and Twigs falls short.

Danny Huston mostly phones in his villainous role as Roag, a character whose own back story and methodology is confusing to say the least. Is he a vampire? A demon? Both? It’s never quite clear. Laura Birn remains a striking presence (her work as the android Demerzel on ‘Foundation’ is one of that series’ strong points) but is underused, while the rest of the cast doesn’t get enough to do to stand out here.

Final Thoughts

Bill Skarsgård in 'The Crow.' Photo Credit: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate.

This is IP mining at best, an attempt to cash in on a brand name that still has some resonance 30 years later (a string of poor sequels kept it in public view for a while as well), and sheer exploitation at worst. But above all, it’s mediocre: too much of ‘The Crow’ has the kind of bland feel that one gets from watching direct-to-video thrillers. Whatever aura Brandon Lee brought to the original is no longer there, and even the love story at the heart of the movie pales in comparison.

The original 1994 ‘The Crow’ remains a testament to a promising actor and career tragically lost far too soon, as well as a snapshot of a particular moment in youth culture. Lacking either of those aspects, 2024’s ‘The Crow’ is a testament to what happens when story material is resurrected and rebooted without wondering if it should be in the first place.

‘The Crow’ receives 3 out of 10 stars.

The Crow

"True love never dies."

R1 hr 51 minAug 23rd, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

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What is the plot of ‘The Crow’?

Damaged souls Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs) fall deeply in love, only for Shelly’s dark past and demonic benefactor to catch up with her. After the couple are brutally murdered, Eric is sent back from the realm of the dead to “put the wrong things right” – even if it means it will cost him the one thing he wants most of all.