THE CROW
A Film Review by Michael J. Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael J. Legeros
Directed by Alex Proyas
Written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, based on the comic book series and comic book strip by James O'Barr.
Cast Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, David Patrick Kelly, Rochelle Davis, and Jon Polito.
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for rape, language, and violence)
Running Time 100 minutes
==
"Looks like he zigged when he should've zagged." - Ernie Hudson, as a police officer commenting on a suspicious death.
Comic book translations are notorious tricky-- anyone up for a double-bill of THE PUNISHER and CAPTAIN AMERICA?-- and THE CROW proves no exception. Despite a gross of good intentions, Brandon Lee's final film doesn't fly very high.
The story opens on Halloween Eve, better known as Devil's Night. Wilmington-as-Detroit is in flames and the police are tending to at least *one* murder: young rock-musician-turned-pavement-artist Eric Draven (Lee), found on a sidewalk six-stories below the apartment he was thrown from. The cops are also upstairs, administering aid to his fiance who was assaulted and raped and not necessarily in that order. She dies, the perps. escape, and, exactly one year later, Draven rises from the grave to wreak revenge.
Sound familiar?
Unlike Charles Bronson, whose only known superpower involves an inability to refrain from filming DEATH WISH sequels, Lee's character has supernatural strength and amazing agility and can even reheal from gunshot wounds faster than Robert Patrick in TERMINATOR 2. By his side is his crow, the presumable source of his powers as related in the narration.
Wearing what appears to be Alice Cooper's leftover make-up, Lee is plopped into an underlit urban landscape that was obviously modeled after BATMAN and BLADE RUNNER. But no number of red-lit, rain-soaked streets can compensate for cheap FX that make THE CROW seem closer to DARKMAN than BATMAN.
(The glaring miniatures should show better on video, though. :)
A nod to DARKMAN is an insult to Sam Raimi, though, because Alex Proyas can't film a decent action scene to save his life. His two "best" set-pieces-- some banzai board-room butchery and a cool church- roof sword fight-- are also undercut by the awful editing of Dov Hoenig and Scott Smith. Blame said editors for the film's frightful flashbacks, as well. But the pace is quick, thank God, and every good-idea-turned-bad is over before it begins.
The cast is better than it should be. Ernie Hudson is a good choice as a friendly policeman and he gets off most of the film's funnier lines. Newcomer Rochelle Davis does well as both the narrator and Draven's scrappy ward. Jon Polito has a small, succulent role as pungent pawnbroker. And Michael Wincott makes a distinct impression as a long-haired Mr. Big whose collection of ancient-swords makes him seem like he walked into the film from the trailer to HIGHLANDER III.
There can be only one.
Finally, there's Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, and a 28-year-old rising-star who was fatally shot during shooting. Lee had four films to his name-- KUNG FU: THE MOVIE, LASER MISSION, SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOYKO, and RAPID FIRE-- and THE CROW would've been a nice feather in his belt and that's about it. There's nothing great from him here-- just a good performance that owes as much to presence as ability.
When the echo of that gunshot finally fades, watching THE CROW should prove an even *less* remarkable experience. Despite a healthy dose of humor and some surprising sincerity, THE CROW is still just a couple notches above its straight-to-video brethren. For now, maybe it's an appropriate eulogy to an actor who could only get better.
BOTTOM LINE: THE CROW is another failed comic-book translation that
just happens to be Brandon Lee's final film. Maybe THE
MASK will wear better.
Grade: C-
.
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