THE CROW (1994)
a review by Evan Landon
I suppose, since we are discussing a classic film that should not be remade, repurposed, reimagined (yet is), we should start here. Why the fuck do we keep doing this? I honestly haven't seen any of the actors in this movie speak to it because we, as they do, know it will fail. Put Post Malone tattoos all over Bill Skarsgard's face and it's still the dumbest way to beat up a dead body (no pun intended) that we have been watching for the past few decades. Y’know what was fucking cool? The first movie. But Hollyweird is so bereft and bankrupt for ideas, that we are getting a new one that absolutely nobody asked for. So, you ask...?
Let's talk about the good parts of my pick for one of the movies that defined my generation, shall we?
Before anything else, let's examine one of the Greatest parts of this movie: this movie broke the mold as far as graphic novels go, especially when it comes to translating to the silver screen. Written, painted, and drawn by James O'Barr back in the early nineties to bring peace to his mind after paintings and illustrations of his time in the U.S. Marines. He made certain illustrations to accompany the music for the band through comic books that was soon bought up by Caliber Press, then packaged by the band Trust Obey signed to Trent Reznor's label. After being passed through many hands, the treatment for a screenplay went to splatterpunk writer, David J. Schow, and John Shirley (of Blue Oyster Cult fame), and Miramax Studios.
The premise, as simple as I can make it, is that a crow will be sent to ferry those wayward souls into the afterlife. Sometimes, the crimes against them are so far gone that they have to atone for all of the wrongdoings that besmirched them in order to make it to the other side. Basically, like a revenant. What ensues is not hard to figure out, but I don't think it needs anymore of an explanation than that.
I think when the hats at Miramax had this cross their desks, it was not something they were looking for. You could say, at the time, that Paramount Studios were not too keen on such an unsecured property. There was no guaranteed money. That was part of the Miramax appeal though: small endeavors through major distribution never gets anything accept for awards and large ticket sales. Not too bad of an idea, if you ask me.
If'n we all want to get blurry-eyed, we can discuss the mishap onset that left us with only questions as to how great Bruce Lee's son could have become, but I will not do that. It has been talked about at nauseum for the past quarter of a century and I had a close friend of mine that used to dress just like him and repeat his lines, word-for-word. Even pro-wrestler Sting took up the persona as a gimmick that seemed to work in WCW, until it didn't, just because it was so popular. Shit, he even dawned the Joker vibe when that wore off.
Director Alex Proyas did an amazing job with what he had here. He went on to make a lot of other movies, most notably Dark City, but I should save that review for another time. Of course, the acting is also way better than expected; we get, not only, Brandon Lee (in his final performance), but Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, and the dude from The Warriors pulling off some magnetic dissonance.
The soundtrack was definitely some of the greatest songs ever, at the time when soundtracks meant as much as the movie itself, with not only Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails, but also original music such heavy-hitters of the time as The Cure, Helmet, Stone Temple Pilots, and Rage Against The Machine. It truly did revolutionize music.
The truth is that we will never have a movie such as this. The way we go about trying to make something out of something out of something that happened before... it does not matter when shit is this fucking good. Instead of bottom-feeding off of intellectual property that came from an amazing space, why steal from nostalgia, aside from destroying it? Isn't that the real gamble? Trading memories for monetary gain?
I have no answers for that.
The Crow cleaned up $94 million on a $23 million tab worldwide and is considered to be one of the greatest films of a generation. It has gone on to do more than anyone involved in its creation could have ever thought possible. This is the definition of what anybody who creates could possibly comprehend being around to see it come to fruition.
R.I.P. Brandon Lee (1965-1993)
4.5 out of 5