By Jack Ransom August 27, 2024
Like Borderlands earlier this month, 'The Crow' is also receiving a critical lashing and was pretty much dead on arrival from a box office perspective due to the pre-angered fans who were not impressed by the first look and tone of the trailer. I do feel that this is being looked at as a remake of the original more so than being an adaptation of the source material. That being said 'The Crow' is obviously not without its issues, however it scratched an angsty, edgy, early-00’s for me.
Synopsis
The adaptation of the cult favourite comic book. 'The Crow' sees soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered. Given a chance to save the love of his life, Eric must sacrifice himself and traverse the worlds of the living and the dead, seeking revenge.
Review
Clocking in at just under two hours, the film takes a surprisingly slow burn approach to the first two acts. The screenplay may dabble in clunky, corny, eye-rolling dialogue beats, but props to the writers for emphasising the rebellious, affectionate and free spirited nature of Eric and Shelly’s connection through trauma and substance troubles, and due to the genuinely uncomfortable and effectively mean spirited nature of demise, there is no question that you are rooting for Eric’s quest for blood. Ultimately though the plot can’t avoid being a fairly generic revenge quest, but the dabbling's of mythology (both for the titular vigilante and the antagonists), keep it engaging.
As a sucker for the early-00’s, I was very much locked in from a stylistic perspective, pretty much from the get go (stylised opening credits backed by electronica, we’re back) and throughout. The rain slicked, dark, dimly lit streets and dynamic ‘crow eye view’ camera angles (very graphic novel-esque) look great and damn does the film earn its age rating. Eric’s healing ability is shown several times in graphic detail as the wounds stitch themselves back together, guts are squashed back into place and bones rekindle. I didn’t go into this expecting one of the standout action set pieces of the year, however that opera sequence is a grin-inducing ballet of brutality: decapitations, limb removals, bullets (and swords) entering brains… it’s gleefully savage stuff, and the sharp editing makes it work incredibly well.
Skarsgård certainly has a packed schedule (with 'Boy Kills World' this year, 'Nosferatu' in December and returning as Pennywise next year in 'Welcome to Derry'). He captures the troubled, broken, lost yet good hearted nature of Eric well enough. Both he and FKA twigs have good chemistry, though the screenplay doesn’t help with some awkward line deliveries scattered throughout. Lastly, Danny Huston delivers as expected in a fittingly unsympathetic and ruthless villainous role.
'The Crow' brings the 00’s atmosphere, disposability and edginess that I wanted from it, as well as a genuinely excellent and gloriously bloody final act set piece. The slickly shot, hard hitting bursts of violence and solid performances just about overshadow its hit and miss screenplay and slow pacing.
Star Rating
'The Crow' is out now in cinemas
Comments