Remakes and adaptations are constants in entertainment. For one, they offer safety for skittish executives worried more about their bottom line and upsetting stockholders than taking risks with an unvetted intellectual property (IP). For two, sometimes there are stories that are ripe for adaptation, which is how we end with up three actors playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a 20 year period, nearly the same number of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and, of course, foreign language-to-English language tales (this last one works in reverse, too, FYI). So it’s not much of a surprise that Lionsgate would seek to tap another beloved IP with a new adaptation of author James O’Barr’s The Crow series, a Rupert Sanders-helmed project that would debut 30 years after the release of Alex Proyas’s (Dark City) cult classic starring the late Brandon Lee (Showdown in Little Tokyo). After a stint in theaters, Sanders’s The Crow is available on home video with a robust gathering of special features that includes a six-part behind the scenes making-of featurette, a look at the score, an in memoriam for the late producer Edward R. Pressman, and more. Though the film itself manages to be much ado about nothing, if you find yourself engaged with the film, the bonus features may be enough to justify the pick-up.
Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
While in rehab, Eric Draven and Shelly (Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs, respectively) meet and discover an instant connection. When Shelly’s past arrives at the facility to reclaim her, Eric quickly moves into action to help her escape and decides to go with her. Though the two try to build a life together, their harmony is cut short when emissaries of Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston) find them, take Shelly, and kill Eric. His love being so strong and his pain so deep, Eric awakens to find himself in a limbo-like place with an enigmatic figure (Sami Bouajila) who provides an opportunity to right the wrongs done on Earth for a chance to be reunited with Shelly. Armed with supernatural powers of healing, Eric begins work to find Roeg, but discovers that the truth may be harder to come to grips with than his already burdened existence can bear.
Written by William Josef Schneider (Return to Silent Hill) and Zach Baylin (Creed II; King Richard), the script for The Crow is strangely overly-complicated, bordering on over-explained, while also underbaked, bordering on riding on just vibes. The general premise should be quite simple — two lovers are struck down and one returns to exact vengeance. Here, however, Schneider and Baylin insert a foe who has struck a deal making themselves supernatural and whose involvement with Shelly makes her a target; Eric is merely a bystander. That changes this from tragic happenstance from the comic or target from the ‘94 version, but it still works with the general premise of avenging angel. Except the writers *also* try to incorporate a sad backstory for Eric that’s not even partially explored except for a brief intro sequence for the film and a fast montage of images in the climax (yes, they fill in the blanks, but not in a way that gives the film meaningful-to-the-audience emotional heft), while also attempting some kind of multi-faith allegory involving Kronos (the Greek mythological figure who’s the son of Gaia and Uranus, one of the original Titans, and who fathered Zeus) and the devil (a primarily Christian figure). There’s so much going on that each thing needs to be touched on a little bit, yet none are ever done thoroughly enough for this world to make a lick of sense. For instance, we don’t even learn Kronos’s name until the credits, but do understand from his cryptic language that he oversees a midpoint and that Eric’s been chosen to return because he can’t be carried forward (once more, simple); until a caveat is thrown in that’s meant to amplify the stakes, but is executed in such a manner as to undercut the logic of the film itself. How does one stop an unstoppable being? The ‘94 story does this by connecting Eric’s power to the crow, a logical manner to make physical the supernatural tether that keeps Eric on the mortal plane. This more recent iteration makes Eric’s strength born in his love for Shelly, which waivers due to his learning a secret while in the throes of seeking revenge. The concept is meant to imply that doubt weakens love — a beautiful and proper true notion that goes to all manner of Greek myths and even the Jesus story wherein doubt is what seals Jesus’s fate — except, by this point, Eric’s been told of Roeg’s corruption of the innocent, therefore any action in the evidence Eric sees should be viewed through the veil of influence. It should be evidence of Roeg’s terrific cruelty and not Shelly’s betrayal. In this instance, the narrative choice speaks more to Eric’s weakness and the harm of misogyny than it does to the eternal power of true love. Because of this, the ideas of the film come off muddled and incomplete, no matter how well-intended or how well shot on camera they may be. We’re *told* that Eric and Shelly love each other more often than we are shown it, their star-crossed appeal steaming more from what the film’s cinematography and score want us to know versus what we’re given. This may be a fault of the script which spends the first quarter giving us backstory on Shelly before introducing Eric into the narrative proper rather than having them start as a couple in which Shelly’s past catches up with them (rote, sure, but it would enable to the film to spend more time on them as an established couple than as this Romeo & Juliet knockoff.
L-R: Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven and FKA twigs as Shelly Webster in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Where the film succeeds is two-fold, even if it’s not enough to really warrant the watch. The first is Huston who never gives less than 100% in his genre work like 30 Days of Night (2007), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and Wonder Woman (2017), or the cup of coffee he shows up for Game Night (2018). His performance is understated when necessary, making the threat of Roeg unsettling because a calm villain is far more terrifying than a tantrum one (Darth Vader vs. Kylo Ren), while also making one wince when he finally breaks and gets physical. Unfortunately, Roeg is more presence than anything, especially in comparison to Michael Wincott’s Top Dollar, as the narrative deals more in Roeg’s underlings who, even with the little dialogue they deliver, remain mostly underbaked tropes for Eric to slice through. The other is in the build up to the bloody third act fight as Eric finds himself pummeled over and again, replacing the martial arts prowess of Lee’s Eric for something far more realistic of a drug addict and violent offender (this is a guess based solely on the little information we’re given as it’s never stated what Eric’s in rehab for) in which his initial attempts at vengeance are comical in their ineptitude. Truly, he only survives because of the immortality. This, of course, is harnessed and weaponized beautifully in Eric’s only real assault on Roeg with a clever detail thrown in whenever Eric’s wounded, but is, otherwise, uninspiring because it’s just mayhem for the sake of mayhem.
Thanks to Lionsgate Home Entertainment, this review is based on a 4K UHD retail copy. So, if you’ve come this far, at least allow for some positive technical information on the 4K UHD edition: it’s a surprisingly impressive disc. The audio track is 7.1 Dolby, but as the EoM office is only 5.1, that aspect can’t be fully explored, but what can be stated is the balance of audio is superb. There are several sequences in which dialogue, either through remembrance or just narrative flair, is repeated around Eric and is thus played bouncing across the speakers. This helps one achieve that immersive feel the film itself seeks to provide to the audience. Similarly, despite such a large amount of data being used by the bonus features (more shortly), the video presentation is quite clean and clear, the blacks nice and inky (important for the representation of this Eric Draven), the golds and browns give off the opulence of Roeg’s world, and the whites possess a lovely clarity, evoking the sense of purity the narrative tries to tie to Shelly. All of this is supported by a bitrate that holds within the 70-80 Mbps range throughout the entire film, only occasionally going higher near the start of the film (credit sequence) and never dropping below 70 at any point during the many checks during the screening. Considering that HD discs max out at 40 Mbps and 4K UHD at 120 Mbps, it’s roughly right in between the two, and that’s likely due to the amount of space the bonus features take up.
Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
In terms of bonus features, be advised that the 4K UHD disc only holds six-part “True Love Never Dies: Making The Crow,” “Dark Romance: The Score,” and “Reborn Through Revenge: Main Title Sequence.” For the remaining featurette, a lovely exploration of the life and career of The Crow (both ‘94 and ’24) producer Edward R. Pressman via his wife and son; deleted scenes; and theatrical trailer; you need to either put in the Blu-ray (which has everything) or switch to the digital edition. The six-chapter featurette drills into specific details of the making of the film from the concept origin, casting, production details that dig into the look of the film, the locations, the action, and a portion for closing thoughts on the project. This runs roughly 66 minutes, so buckle in. For 11 minutes, composer Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front; Conclave) discusses his approach to score construction for the film, as well as guides us through the recording process in the featurette “Dark Romance: The Score.” If the title sequence aroused you in any way, in the brief two-minute featurette “Reborn Through Revenge: Main Title Sequence,” Sanders talks about the thought process and technical execution of the sequence. It’s an evocative sequence to be sure, but it doesn’t play as well within the whole of the film as placed, whereas a late-delivered title using this same concept might’ve linked some ideas together more clearly and not just looked cool. Rounding things out are four deleted scenes (no titles, just scene numbers) and a theatrical trailer.
Be advised that the 4K UHD physical edition comes in three iterations: regular, Walmart steelbook, and Amazon steelbook. If you’re planning to pick this up, make sure you know what your options are.
Any remake of a cult classic is going to receive flack upon release. It’s just the cynical nature of consumerism which bemoans “who is this for?!” before seeing the film within its context. In this case, too many older audiences are connected to the ‘94 version to see anything else beyond what they know, making the use of Eric Draven as the central character instead of one of O’Barr’s other Crow characters created a difficult barrier to break through. Then you add in an executed tale that somehow takes a charismatic lead in a fascinating supernatural revenge tale and makes it boring by virtue of trying to make it mythical. It results in a film that’s ultimately fine for what it is, but nothing that’s going to have audiences passing the discs around when their parents go to sleep, fraught with lore and forbidden longing. If it can’t rain all the time, this film proves that sometimes a drought during a tsunami is worse.
The Crow Special Features:
- True Love Never Dies: Making The Crow (6 Chapters) (1:05:56)
- Dark Romance: The Score (11:27)
- Reborn Through Revenge: Main Title Sequence (2:06)
- Every Film Is a Miracle: A Tribute to Edward R. Pressman (11:08)
- Four (4) Deleted Scenes (5:54)
- Theatrical Trailer
Available on VOD and digital September 13th, 2024.
Available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and limited edition 4K UHD steelbook November 5th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Lionsgate The Crow website.
Final Score: 2 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
Leave a Reply