The Crow

For this entire month, I will be looking at “The Crow” franchise. Granted, I never read any of the comics that this was based off of, so I’m not familiar too much with the character. I just remember Nostalgia Critic mentioning this briefly and the Angry Video Game Nerd mentioned the movie a little when he reviewed the Sega Saturn game. Now let’s jump in with the first “The Crow” movie, released in 1994.

This is the movie where Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon Lee, was making when he was accidentally shot dead during the filming of a scene. I don’t think it is ironic that the story involves a hero who returns from the dead – just as, in a way, Lee did when the film was released. Roger Ebert admitted in his review, “It is a stunning work of visual style - the best version of a comic book universe I've seen - and Brandon Lee clearly demonstrates in it that he might have become an action star, had he lived.”

The story starts with a resurrection from the dead. A rock star named Eric Draven (Lee) is murdered, along with his fiancé (Sofia Shinas), on the night of their wedding. His soul is transported to the next world (which is what the narration said) by a crow. However, when a spirit is unhappy there because of unfinished business on earth, sometimes the crow will bring him back again. Cut to a year later, on Halloween Eve, Eric reappears on earth, seeking vengeance on those who murdered him – and the evil kingpin who tasked them.

That’s about the entire story. Ebert noted, “Flashbacks recreate the original murder, and then Eric, led by the crow, tracks the mean, rainy, midnight streets on his lonely quest. He has fashioned for himself some death's-head makeup, and since he is already dead, of course bullets cannot harm him (except sometimes - which is always the catch in comic book stories).”

The story exists as a reason for the production values of the film, which are amazing. The director, Alex Proyas, and his technical team have made a realm that will remind audiences of the lonely urban wilderness in “Blade Runner” and of the Gothic luxuries in “Batman,” yet this world is dirtier and more forbidding than either. It’s not often that movies can use miniatures and special effects and sets and visual tricks to create a realistic place, rather than just a series of obvious sets, but “The Crow” does.

The visual styles, by cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, obviously pays a great deal to the look of comic books (or “graphic novels,” as they like to be called). Ebert noted, “The camera swoops high above the city, or dips low for extreme-angle shots. Shadows cast fearsome daggers into the light. Buildings are exaggerated in their architectural details, until they seem a shriek of ornamentation.” The superhero comic books of the 1940s, especially “Batman,” were around the same time as film noir, and borrowed some of the same visual language. However, comic books were not simply art forms of film noir. Ebert noted, “For one thing, the films tended to use their extreme-angle shots for atmosphere and storytelling, and would hold them for a time, while comics are meant to be read quickly, and give the equivalent of cinematic quick-cutting.” “The Crow,” with its fast pace and its countless camera set-ups, reminds comics much more than the more good-looking but more relaxed “Batman” movies. Ebert said, “It also reflects a bleak modern sensibility, with little room for the comic villians in "Batman."” The actors are adapted in appearance to this graphic noir version. Their appearances are as exaggerated as the shots they appear in. Ebert noted, “For example: The bosoms of women in comic books always seem improbably perfect but sketched in - drawn by a pen, not made of flesh - and the villainess Myca (Bai Ling) in this story has the same look.” As the half-sister of the villain, she represents a drawn image, not a person, and so do many of the other characters, including a thin, gaunt Brandon Lee behind his makeup.

The soundtrack is consisted of hard rock (The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Violent Femmes, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails, etc.).

At times the film looks like a violent music video, all image and action, no content. However, if it had developed more story and characterization, it might not have had as much of a success in creating a world where the strange reality, not the story, is the point.

The scene where Brandon Lee was accidentally shot is not in the film, but his death cannot help giving a miserable subtext to everything he does on screen, and to every one of his speeches about death and revenge. It is a sad irony that this film is not only the best thing he had done, but is actually more of a screen success than any of the films his father did.

Both careers were really short just as early potential was being seen. Ebert ended his review by noting, “There was talk of shelving "The Crow," but I'm glad they didn't. At least what Brandon Lee accomplished - in a film that looks to have been hard, dedicated labor - has been preserved.”

This is a great movie that everyone should see. If you’re a comic book movie fan, then definitely don’t skip this one. It is dark, edgy, violent, and definitely the epitome of what a comic book film should look like. Check it out, and see the last film Brandon Lee did before his horrible accident. I promise you; you will like it.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the sequels. If you want to know what I’m talking about, look out next week when I look at the first sequel in “The Crow Month.”