There are spoilers in this review of both the original and reboots of The Crow.
I'm a fan of Bill Skarsgard and when I saw him topless and tatted in promotion for a reboot of 1994's The Crow, I knew I had to see it. I had not however, seen the original and as someone who likes to have the source material for reboots or remakes whenever I can, I set about watching the original.
As we all know, the original film based on the 1989 comic book series by James O'Barr, stars Brandon Lee in his debut and final role before his tragic death. Lee was accidentally though fatally shot while filming a scene for the movie and so never saw its release. Much like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Lee received post humous accolades for his performance and The Crow has since become a classic in its own right with its dark themes and violence.
I for one, enjoyed The Crow well enough but found it to be very much 'of its time'. The moody lighting, the all action no real plot element was all very 90s in way that felt comical to me watching in 2024. However, I could respect how it would have been greatly received at the time and found I loved the no nonsense approach that the main character, Eric Draven had toward the revenge he sort for he and his partner's deaths.
Where my modern day heart did feel a little out of the story was that there was no real connection made to Eric or his girlfriend Shelly. The film opens with their murders, Eric wakes up what feels like two seconds later and we're meant to be on board with him unaliving guys left right and centre? There's also not enough of the supernatural element explained for me. Why them? Why a crow? Who controls the crow? I've not read the comic strip so this may be better explained there but that felt a little lacking for me. As a consequence I just focused on the gore and killing then I did any emotional attachment to the horrific crime.
Those two elements are where 2024's The Crow gets points but yet falls flat mostly everywhere else. In the reboot, they establish Eric and Shelly's relationship and give us the opportunity to care for them. It made sense for us to get to know the couple so that when they inevitably die, we'd care more. However, where they could have done much better is that by making Eric and Shelly drug users, for me it felt less like they were victims of their trauma - why they went to drugs - and more so simply junkies. There was no real explanation as to why Eric was in rehab. There was no added commentary that Shelley knew what had happened to her why she became drug dependent, so when she and Eric escape and start a lusty drug induced love affair, it felt a little sordid rather than sentimental.
From this point on, my 2024 need for more action and faster everything brain kicked in and I couldn't understand why it took so long for Eric to get bad ass. In the original, he knows what to do, what's expected of him and just takes out the bad guys in a bad ass way. While the modern way was more logical in that Eric had to understand what had happened to him and how to save Shelly, I just wanted him to get to the killing! The pacing was a little off so every time he woke up, not knowing what to do, got a little annoying. Moreso, I wanted him to be more sleek about it all. Like dude, you might not be able to die but can we not just stand in the way of all the bullets and knives. If he has the power of a god now - what god by the way - why is he not dodging bullets and catching knives like a pro? The fact he took so many hits, took away from the stress of him getting back up.
Overall, I enjoyed the reboot for a few staple scenes and the intent to build a story around the couple as well as Bill who is gloriously tall and dark and sexy in an emo way! But yes, the original is better in that it despite the lack of emotional connection, was more succinct in its purpose.
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