THE CROW (2024)

Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Rupert Sanders
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, Jordan Bolger
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: R21 (Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 22 August 2024

Synopsis: Bill Skarsgård takes on the iconic role of THE CROW in this modern reimagining of the original graphic novel by James O’Barr. Soulmates Eric Draven (Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put things right.

Movie Review:

After three decades, three critically-panned sequels and a long-gestation development process which sees talents liked Luke Evans, Jason Momoa and Corin Hardy dropping out, The Crow (2024) finally sees the daylight.

For a start, this theatrical version is not a remake of the original starring Brandon Lee but more of an updated adaptation of the graphic novel. In short, it’s a new take on the James O’Barr creation.

Plotwise, the gist of the story remains unchanged. A troubled young man, Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and his girlfriend, Shelly (Brit singer FKA Twigs) are killed by the thugs hired by the devil’s servant, Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston). Eric then comes to life to seek revenge on Roeg after promising a mysterious man and his crows that he will right the wrongs.

The 1994 version is efficient, simple and gets the point across within 100 minutes. Meanwhile, Rupert Sanders’ (Snow White and the Huntsman, Ghost in the Shell) version took an hour or so to establish the romance between Eric and Shelly. And yet there’s little to none to show for it. Eric is portrayed as a destructive person and for reason unknown stays in a rehab facility where he met Shelly, conveniently her mother and herself apparently worked for Roeg. The 2024 Eric has less of a character than the 1994 version. He might be just an introvert thug or a musician but who really cares.

Looking fashionably beautiful and gorgeous, the entire movie is set in an unknown city perhaps somewhere in Eastern Europe. There goes a dystopian rainy Detroit where danger seems to lurk at every corner. One obvious mistake is the introduction of the devil whisperer character which is not in the original. By supplying innocent souls to the devil, his work entitles him to immortality and that’s just one of the biggest benefits of working for the devil. The treatment however is half-baked, Roeg’s antics are more grounded than the insanity acts of Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) and to think of it, the former has supernatural powers.

Lee’s Crow exhibited a wicked sense of humour, absolute martial-arts skills and comes up with witty methods to exact his revenge. Sadly for Skarsgård, his Eric is more of a fumbling dude with self-healing power despite his terrifying performance as Pennywise. With a runtime close to two hours, the fantasy flick has only two main action sequences, one involving a shootout in a car and a prolonged shootout in an opera house. The digitally enhanced shootouts and fights are ultra-bloody and gut wrenching, definitely not for the weak stomach. Overall sorry my beloved audiences, there’s no memorable pawn shop explosion or a car exploding into a river. The Crow 2024 is more of a John Wick trapped in a supernatural premise.

There’s so much to love in the original especially with Lee’s magnetic onscreen performance, Alex Proyas’ eye for visual and the 90’s alt-rock soundtrack. Honestly, it’s near impossible to find anything worth mentioning in this updated version. The reimagining fails to establish a proper exciting villain nor an emotionally affecting leading character. The Crow IP continues to be cursed after the death of Brandon Lee and it doesn’t seem to change anytime soon.

Is that gasoline I smell?

Nah, just trash.

Movie Rating:

(The themes of love and revenge remains but no way it matches the decades old original)

Review by Linus Tee