The Crow

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston, Jordan Bolger, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila

Director: Rupert Sanders

Based on the Comic "The Crow" by James O'Barr

After gaining possession of a troubling video, Shelly (twigs) finds herself being chased by ruthless crime lord Roeg (Huston), who wants to keep the video from seeing the light of day. After hiding the tape and then herself in a rehab facility, Shelly meets and falls for fellow patient and equally troubled Eric (Skarsgård). After she is found by Roeg's right hand man Marian (Birn), Eric and Shelly escape the facility and plan to spend the rest of their lives together and in love. Unfortunately for them, they are found by Roeg and killed. Much to his surprise, Eric wakes up in a purgatory-like realm where he is told by Kronos (Bouajila) he must kill Roeg in order to resurrect and be with Shelly. After returning to the real world, Eric begins his quest for vengeance so that he can be reunited with his love.

As I have said before, remakes of beloved films are already facing an uphill battle. Fans of the original get upset at the prospect of the film they love getting remade, which leaves the film to attract those who either haven't seen or are unaware of the original. Ever since the remake/re-imagining, of 1994's The Crow was announced in 2008, it has been met with harsh skepticism and a revolving door of actors and directors. How do you remake a film that not only has a legion of fans but also has the tragic death of star Brandon Lee embedded into its legacy? The original's director, Alex Proyas, has been very vocal about his disdain of this film which has also helped fuel the public skepticism.

So how does it fare?

First and foremost, this is not a remake. Outside of a few loose connections, this bears little resemblance to the original film or the comic. On paper, this approach could have actually worked, as the movie takes the time to delve into Eric and Shelly's relationship before the supernatural revenge story begins to take shape. In fact, we spend a good 40 minutes with Eric and Shelly before they are murdered. In a better-written script, this could have actually worked. Unfortunately here, we end up wasting time with the characters and not getting to know them. We are told they are in love (after a week or so of knowing each other) but we don't feel it. So once Eric begins his bloody revenge, we don't care.

I don't think that this is the fault of either Bill Skarsgård or FKA twigs but they also both feel woefully miscast. Skarsgård, who was much better in last years Boy Kills World, is an unintimidating presence throughout, sporting an inconsistent accent and meek demeanor before his transformation into a dull vigilante who can't die. He and twigs don't have any chemistry together and their story feels rushed, despite taking up a substantial part of the runtime. Huston does what he does as Roeg but I almost feel like the movie could have wrung more suspense from the story by keeping him off-screen as much as possible. Knowing what his character is doing before catching up to Eric and Shelly kills any tension the script could have generated.

The movie continues to disappoint in its climactic showdown between Eric and Roeg. It's over way too quick to be remotely satisfying and is honestly just a fist fight. They really couldn't have found a better way to end the movie?

There is surprisingly little action in the film. It's not all awful though. Director Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell, Snow White and the Huntsman) does manage to give us one decent action scene. Set at an opera house, Eric goes through Roeg's henchmen in gruesome and bloody fashion and is the only time the movie capitalizes on the premise and comes alive. Sure, you can laugh at the fact that no one watching the opera can hear the gunfire and mayhem and just continue to watch unaware, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the action scene is entertaining and shows the film's wasted potential.

The biggest sin this movie commits is that it's just dull. Bad movies can slip into the "so bad they are good" category if they at least manage to be entertaining. This doesn't thanks to a lack of action and an unconvincing romance.

Grade; D