The Crow:
A young couple: Eric Draven and Shelley Webster are brutally murdered on "Devil's Night", a gangsters' wild night of riots and mayhem, which takes place on October 30th, in inner city Detroit. Their wedding was to be the very nexy day, Halloween. This leaves their friend Sarah, a young girl, without caretakers except for her drug-addicted mom. A year later, the undead Eric rises from the grave, guided by a mysterious, supernatural crow, to avenge his girlfriend and kill the gang members. But, their boss, drug dealing psycho Top Dollar may have other plans for Eric. The cast for the film are terrific. Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son in his final performance) plays Eric. He is convincing as the vengeful, but loving Eric. He only has two allies: Sarah, and an old Detroit cop, Albrecht. He cares for these two, treating Albrecht as a sidekick, and Sarah as a little sister. He changes several people for the better in the film, but does exact brutal vengeance on those who deserve it. Speaking of which, Rochelle Davis is great as Sarah. She's a curious, independent, and funny little girl. Ernie Hudson (Ghostbsuters) plays Sergeant Albrecht. He's a divorced, aging cop. He's not Jim Gordon, he's old, but he's not very smart, he's out of shape, and he's not a very good shot. The opposite of the bad-ass Comissioner Gordon, although, he can hold his own in a fight, and proves to be a useful ally. Michael Wincott plays Top Dollar (even though his name isn't stated in the film), the devious, drug-dealing villain of the film. He's cool, and pure evil. He knows he's the villain and enjoys it. He does cruel, horrible things, but you can't seem to hate him. Bai Ling plays Myca, Dollar's half-sister and lover. She's pretty freaky, like him, and knows about the supernatural. Tony Todd (Candyman) plays Grange, Dollar's tall, indimating bodyguard. He's a small part, but he's memorable because Todd is so shadowy and has swagger, he's cool and creepy at the same time. James O'Barr (the creator) makes a cameo in a scene where The Crow blows up a pawn shop. The action scenes and special effects are great. From Eric's brief encounters with Tin-Tin, Fun-Boy, T-Bird, and Skank (the gangster who killed him), to the shoot-out at Top Dollar's, and the final showdown at the cathedral, the action is cool, slick, and stylish. The ways Eric comes up with the kill his enemies are truly gruesome and unique. From stabbing all major organs in alphabetical order, to overdosing someone on morphine, to blowing up someone in a car with all their own weapons, the deaths will disgust you, but they happen to characters you hate. Unfortunately, during the encounter with Fun-Boy, Michael Massee, the actor protraying the thug, shot a fake bullet during a re-shoot, and hit Lee in a major artery in a freak accident. It killed Lee, like his father, during the shoot, and Massee refused to work for a year out of guilt. Many critics predicted this would have been Lee's breakthrough role, and he would have become a major 90's star afterwards. Well, maybe in some alternate universe Lee survived and he became a major Hollywood player. The music is tragic and memorable. Haunting, touching, depressing, and uplifting, The Crow has a very moving and unique score. The look of the film is like Burton's Batman, gothic, artsy, and haunting. Though, this film's Detroit makes Gotham look like colorful utopia. I would rather live in real Detroit than here. Alex Proyas, director of I Robot, and Dark City, does a great job with the cinematography. Some of the film looks like straight out of a comic book, and it totally works. The Crow is a dark, action-packed, disturbing comic book film that raised the bar for dark comic book movies, that has only recently been surpassed (Dark Knight). 5/5 stars.
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