A shadow that failed to cast: A review of The Crow remake

Rupert Sanders‘ The Crow is an unremarkable supernatural revenge flick.

I’d leave it at that; I’d probably forget about the movie had it not been about the controversy and legacy. In fact, just a few hours ago, on Geek Native, Bronwen wrote up the director responding to the backlash. You can skip all the drama and just not watch the movie. Sadly, you won’t miss out.

The 1994 version of The Crow was directed by Alex Proyas (Dark City) and starred Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee in his final role. Lee died in a prop gun accident on stage; a stunt double and digital editing allowed the film to be finished. It was remarkable at the time.

Both films, of course, are based on James O’Barr‘s comic book. The 2024 version departs considerably from the original plot.

In all versions, The Crow is/was a man named Eric who returned from the dead to avenge Shelly. He cannot die, although he feels pain and recovers from terrible wounds—unless it’s dramatic hero damage, which persists mysteriously.

I’d describe the Brandon Lee as gothic-rock and the Bill Skarsgård one as emo.

The Crow remake synopsis

Troubled young Eric meets in-trouble runaway Shelly in a rehab prison where men and women intermix, wear pink and stumble through patronising therapy.

It’s not clear why Eric is there; probably drugs and anger. Shelly is there because she decided to walk into two police officers and drop her bag of drugs, which she inexplicably took with her to investigate a friend.

The film’s point of view on drugs is a mess. Sometimes, they’re what people mean enough to take them and neglect their kid and horse. Sometimes, we’re reminded that you just get a small touch of corruption, and then you’re in deep. At other times, drugs are what cool young people do and escaping the world controlled by people in suits is the only sensible choice.

Eric and Shelly have a romance in which you need an acute sense of time to determine how long it lasts. It feels like a one-night stand, but there are then enough flashbacks to last months.

The baddies catch up with the couple, and we enter the more traditional The Crow space of zombie boyfriends and murder sprees to music.

The music

The Crow original soundtrack was on repeat in my ears in my youth: The Cure, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and Pantera. Bring it!

While the Brandon Lee Crow look was goth, the music was rock.

I’m disappointed in the reboot’s much weaker choice of music. Even the ‘we need a good fight scene’ opera moment fell flat.

What else went wrong

There’s a supernatural villain in the reboot called Roeg who was simply incompetent and not very frightening.

Really, though, even as The Crow just stumbled from one situation to another, so did the movie. There was no sense of the occult, of mystery, or dark power or tragedy.

Eric and Shelly, those two emos, seemed nice enough, but there was no great sense of a romance forged in soul stuff being cruelly snuffed out. In some ways, the couple’s untimely end felt like something they initiated through bad choices rather than life being unfair.

Overall

I do want to give movies a chance and not judge them before they’re out. However, for The Crow 2024 it’s a thumbs down. It’s dark without any sincere darkness. It’s shadow that failed to cast and that’s despite Skarsgard’s ripped torso.