THE CROW
A Film Review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1994 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis. Screenplay: David Schow and John Shirley. Director: Alex Proyas.
I have seen a number of reviewers falling over themselves to praise THE CROW, and I'm not convinced that many of them haven't been unduly influenced by the film's morbid history. As it is now well- known, star Brandon Lee was killed during the filming of THE CROW, and consequently its storyline of a man returning from the dead to bring closure to his life hits close enough to home to create a natural fascination. I, like many, hoped that THE CROW would serve as a fitting epitaph to a budding star, and show that he hadn't died simply to make another schlocky action-fantasy. But sadly, that's basically what THE CROW is--a paper thin story supporting a lot of rain and moody lighting.
Lee stars as Eric Draven, a rock guitarist killed when he enters his fiancee's apartment as she is being raped, and eventually killed herself. One year later, a supernatural crow causes Eric to burst forth from his grave, endowed with superhuman abilities including the ability to take a truckload of bullets and keep on ticking. One by one he hunts down the gang responsible for his death and that of his fiancee, assisted along the way by the cop (Ernie Hudson) who worked the original case. At the top of Eric's list is Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the city crimelord who ordered the killing, and who proves to be Eric's most dangerous challenge.
All right, let's dispense with the formalities right off the top: THE CROW *looks* great. Director Alex Proyas (an Australian previously best known for music videos) and his production team have captured the grim feel of James O'Barr's graphic novel; the cross- cutting to flashbacks, freeze frames and evocative lighting all have a distinct comic book feel. But there is very little THE CROW does visually that BLADE RUNNER or BATMAN didn't already do, and for the most part do better. Proyas wheels out cliches like the cityscape on fire opening shot, the close-up of the hero's face dripping with rain, and lightning revealing something previously hidden in shadow. While the art direction and cinematography are striking, there is nothing original enough to obscure the glaring weaknesses in the rest of the film.
The trouble begins with the script by David Schow and John Shirley, but the fact is that there's no way of knowing what changes were made as a result of Lee's death. Perhaps the original script didn't begin with Eric and Shelly already dead, giving more poignance to the story and a chance to understand what Eric has lost beyond the snippets shown in flashback. Perhaps it included a scene between Eric and Sarah (Rochelle Davis), the young street kid who is his friend in life, where Eric confronts the fact that he can't have friends in death. As it stands, there is not enough pain in Eric's characterization, not enough opportunity for us to see him responding to the circumstance in which he finds himself. Eric should go about his business full of rage, not like the wise-cracking vigilante he becomes.
What is true of Eric's characterization is true of the characterizations right down the line: they're either lazy, or they just don't make sense. Rochelle Davis is the tough-but-victimized urchin with a skateboard; Ernie Hudson plays a gruff-but- compassionate cop. Michael Wincott does fine work as the villain, but the attempt to explain his motivation is one of the lamest in recent memory. And the rest of the villains appear to have been Xeroxed from ROBOCOP.
However, I'm willing to admit that there may be only two relevant questions for most potential viewers of THE CROW: 1) Is it a good action film? 2) Was Brandon Lee headed towards stardom? The answer to #1 is, better than most; THE CROW is well paced, well choreographed and is at least somewhat creative. As for #2, it's hard to say. Unlike most action stars, Lee at least had English as his native language, and given time he might have become a good actor. But in THE CROW, he wasn't yet. And I can't help but think that if he were alive today, most critics wouldn't have bee so forgiving.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 crows: 5.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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