Bill Skarsgård takes on the iconic role of The Crow in this modern reimagining of the original graphic novel by James O’Barr. Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
What We Thought:
1994’s The Crow is one of the best films of the 1990s. If it wasn’t for his death, Brandon Lee would have been one of the biggest stars in the world. There were multiple sequels to that film with different characters taking up the mantle of The Crow. For some reason they decided to remake that original film using the same Eric Draven & Shelly love story angle for this new 2024 movie. They shouldn’t have. This should have been a sequel with new characters and not a remake because it’s nowhere near as good as Lee’s film.
The biggest issue with the remake is that it has no heart or soul. The original story had Eric as a musician and him and his love are brutally murdered. He comes back as The Crow to get revenge on their killers. This time around Eric and Shelly are pretty much just junkies. They meet in rehab and escape when people come looking for Shelly because of a cell phone video she has. Those people kill them and Eric comes back to avenge their deaths. I simply never cared about this couple. There was no chemistry between them nor was there a good enough backstory for me to care enough about them being avenged.
Part of the heart and soul of the original came from the younger girl character that brought humanity to Eric’s vengeance tour. The story was pretty much told through her. That’s gone here. Instead you have two people covered in tattoos looking like someone that would be begging for change outside a convenience store. I guess having tattoos, terrible hair and doing drugs makes you edgy in today’s world, but to me you just look dirty and not someone I care enough about. I certainly cared about Lee’s Eric getting his revenge, but I didn’t with Skarsgård.
And somehow despite being 30 years newer than the original, this remake looks much more fake. It’s full of post-production blood splatter and muzzle flash. The sword fighting is terrible and all the action sequences are bad. John Wick has changed the expectations of action sequences and these aren’t good. The opera theater action choreography is a joke whereas the 30 year old original has multiple set pieces you remember like the table scene with Brandon Lee murdering people and the car chase where a fire is set in the shape of a crow. I won’t remember much of this movie.
If The Crow (2024) was just the latest sequel to The Crow (1994) my expectations would have been lower because most of the sequels have been bad. Instead we get a remake that changes 99% of the film and really only keeps the names Eric & Shelly. The original film had a killer soundtrack I still listen to 30 years later. This doesn’t even have a good score. The lack of chemistry between the leads doesn’t help the lackluster action and you can 100% understand why this bombed. Nothing about the film worked for me.
BONUS FEATURES:
True Love Never Dies: Making The Crow (6 Chapters):
- Chapter One – The Emotional Engine: Origins
- Chapter Two – Body & Soul: The Cast
- Chapter Three – Modern Gothic: Character/Costume/Production Design
- Chapter Four – Between Two Worlds: On Location
- Chapter Five – Vengeance Incarnate: Action & Stunts
- Chapter Six – Sacrifice: Final Thoughts
Dark Romance: The Score
Reborn Through Revenge: Main Title Sequence
Every Film Is a Miracle: A Tribute to Edward R. Pressman
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
CAST:
- Bill Skarsgård It, Barbarian, John Wick: Chapter 4
- FKA twigs Singer-Songwriter
- Josette Simon Wonder Woman, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
- Laura Birn Void, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Purge
- Sami Bouajila The Siege, The Adventures of Felix, A Son
- and Danny Huston TV’s “Yellowstone,” 21 Grams, Children of Men
The Nerds Templar 