The Crow: City of Angels

Tattoo artist Sarah (Mia Kirshner) has frequent nightmares of a traumatic incident on a dock, where death and destruction occurred by criminal kingpin Judah Earl (Richard Brooks), who rules her town with drugs and prostitution and fear. Mike Massie said in his review, “Away from this “city of angels,” which is basked in a permanent darkness and filth, Sarah believes that there’s a purgatory of sorts, a place where restless souls wander, waiting for a chance to right the wrongs in their lives. And Judah has a wealth of comeuppance heading his way.”

The victim in Sarah’s nightmares was Ashe Corven (Vincent Perez), who was shot, tied in barbed wire with his young son (Eric Acosta), and thrown into the river. However, thanks to the powers of the Crow, and the undying want for revenge, Corven is revived. Through the guidance followed by the large black crow that visits Sarah’s home, she wants to find Ashe and give him a place to stay.

Massie noted, “Based on James O’Barr’s comic strip and comic book series, this sequel retains the morbidity, violence, and BDSM themes from the original – along with contrasting religious components, which actually play nicely against the unrelenting deviances. Sadly, it also retreads plenty of familiar ground, telling about the same story through choppy flashbacks and blurry visions. It’s every bit as weird and somber, with the same pairing of a young woman and a pasty vigilante tracking down a hierarchy of villains, all of whom dress in black leather and clownish makeup as rock music thunders in the background. Plus, there’s even an Asian villainess (Thuy Trang), twinning Bai Ling’s supporting role from 1994 – an odd selection to duplicate.” “The Crow: City of Angels,” released in 1996, is basically a remake.

“We killed you, man!” Massie mentioned, “As before, this pitch-black, neo-noir superhero flick bears a resemblance to Tim Burton’s “Batman” pictures, in which the larger-than-life feats and bright colors have been swapped out for bloodshed and general aberrance. Here, the torture and nudity are a touch more extreme, but the absence of comic relief, the goth wardrobes, and the muted palette are unmistakably similar.” It’s even difficult to not think of the Crow’s stylings with the Joker.

However, purposeful humor finds its way into the emptiness, mainly when Thomas Jane, as henchman Nemo, mimes abusing himself for nearly a minute in real-time. Massie noted, “Likewise, a major portion of the film is reiteration, predominantly through repetitive flashbacks, which stretch out the overly simplistic revenge plot.” Besides, there aren’t that many enemies. Ashe doesn’t have much interest in doing anything except finding those who killed him.

“How do you stop a man who’s already dead?” Massie said, “Admittedly, there’s a modicum of entertainment value to be found in a ruthless protagonist mercilessly tormenting and executing a band of exceptionally unfeeling antagonists; but it’s certainly not enough to warrant a feature-length film.” Obviously, this isn’t the first time all of this is happening, with these same characters in very similar situations.

As all of you have noted, this sequel is just plain garbage. Why did they feel the need to make a sequel? Especially since the first one left off with no indication that there will be a sequel. The first movie stands on its own perfectly, so there was no need. This is just a slap in the face for those who loved the first one so much. If they thought they could do it over again, they failed miserably. Especially since there is a very small part for Beverly Mitchell, who you might remember as the middle child in that overly Christian sitcom “7^th Heaven.” Just do yourself a favor and never see this movie, it’s atrocious.

Sadly, the torment doesn’t end there, as they made other horrendous sequels. To know what I mean, stay tuned next week to find out in the sad continuation of “The Crow Month.”