I’ve been watching the Crow reboot get eviscerated by the critics, and as a result there’s a clamour over the genius of the original movie. But was it that good? Let’s take a look.
The Crow, filmed in 1994 and adapted from a comic series by James O’Barr, is a moody gothic story of revenge, centring on Eric Draven, a musician who is brought back from the dead to avenge his murder and that of his fiancée. Granted near-invulnerability from a supernatural crow, our anti-hero hunts the four thugs responsible for his death and uncovers the ultimate culprit, an urban wizard/gangland boss Top Dollar.
The things that everyone remembers about this film are the beautifully gothic visuals, the black-clad Eric leaping through the night atop crumbling buildings while hunting his prey. The clown makeup, the bedraggled hair, the crow that sits on his shoulders – whatever else, the main character has an outstanding presence, and every scene drips with dark symbolism.
After a well-made, economical opening, the story unfolds like a reverse slasher film – a group of people are trying to escape an unstoppable killer, except this time it’s the criminals running from relentless vengeance. Eric’s character is at his best when he works with little dialogue, conveying his driving retribution through body action and body language. But here we get into two types of storytelling: the villain’s side unfolds logically, with actions and reactions to each killing. Eric though seems to flit through his own story, appearing for brief moments to have strange, enigmatic conversations. As with his supernatural powers, there’s no explanation, but I think this is by design. Eric is a figure from an urban fairytale. We don’t ask why the magical sword in a children’s story is the only thing that can kill the dragon. We just accept that it’s part of the mystery.
This is a generous interpretation though. The final act of the film, and in particular the final encounter between Eric and Top Dollar doesn’t seem to fit the rest of the story, and doesn’t seem to really resolve anything other than the basic revenge motivation. The Crow losing his powers raises the stakes, except for the scenes where is still seemingly invulnerable. And then he’s suddenly vulnerable again when the plot needs him to be. I was also not a fan of the whole “here’s a special power that I pulled out of nowhere at the last minute” ending.
That said, the influence of this film on later movies is undeniable. Underworld’s vampires walking off the top of a skyscraper, Dark City’s eternally moonlight cityscape, Batman standing in a burning outline of his own symbol – there’s plenty of filmmakers who have drawn from this film.
All in all, 1994’s The Crow is still a powerful film, but perhaps not the masterpiece some are making it out to be. I haven’t seen the remake, but I did see sequel, The Crow: City of Angels. The less said about that one the better.
Agree? Disagree? Put on your best clown makeup and let me know in the comments below!
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