Post by StevePulaski on Oct 20, 2016 12:48:09 GMT -5
The Crow (1994)
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Ernie Hudson (left) and Brandon Lee in The Crow.
Rating: ★★★
Had it not been for the deeply tragic, on-set action that cost the life of Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's soon, Alex Proyas's The Crow could've potentially been remembered first and foremost for being a terrifying, graphic-novel-esque horror-fantasy before the genre even took off. However, Lee being shot and killed in a freak accident, which should've been nothing more than a routine climactic moment in the film, has etched the movie in the minds of many as being Lee's career-defining film before he even had the chance to make more.
The Crow should not be as good of a film as it is. In fact, it should be an oddity - an actor's last film due to a fatal accident, which resulted in numerous production problems and costly reshoots, not to mention a horrible stain and mental-tax on the life of Michael Massee, who pulled the trigger on Lee. With that, it's amazing to say how well put-together and interesting the entire film is. A dark, brooding picture, way before the likes of films like Sin City and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy would come to make the style and the genre popular, The Crow's dark-as-night cinematography and gloomy narrative lend itself to making a successfully creepy film.
The film takes opens in Detroit on October 30th, also known as Devil's Night, with Police Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) investigating a recent shooting where the young couple of Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas) were both assaulted in their home before being thrown out a window. Both eventually succumb to their injuries.
A year later, a crow taps on the gravestone of Eric, and because it's said that crows have an ability to carry and represent the souls of the dead, this resurrects Eric almost instantly. He recalls that those responsible for his murder were members of a rag-tag street gang, made up of brutal men with cartoonish names - Tin Tin, Funboy, Skank, and their leader, T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly). The only resolution to him and his fiancee's murders is very simple: an eye for an eye.
For a film with such a simple, straight-forward concept, it's also pretty surprising just how impressive The Crow manages to be. I credit most of this to Lee, yet again, because he's the character that not only has the most screentime, but also the most commanding edge. His character winds up being an uncommon force to be reckoned with, and his performance suggests undertones of agony and betrayal on top of the malicious persona that's inherent to this kind of character. He's frequently frightening more often than not.
Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski - who would later go on to do the cinematography for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series - keeps things as pitch-dark as they can be, but in such a way that pleasantly adds to the film rather than subtracts from the visibility. The cityscapes and dirty streets look as if they were soaked in blotches of black ink, and miserable color palette does a solid job at loaning itself to the film rather than being a petty or taxing distraction.
The Crow's legacy is an unfortunate one, but its quality is what works to save it and make it known for something else other than it being the final hallmark of a twenty-eight-year-old actor. To misconstrue the film and say the story of a freak accident is all it has to offer is woefully misguided, for the film, in a large sense, is deeply impressive and laudable.
Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, David Patrick Kelly, Ernie Hudson, Michael Massee, and Sofia Shinas. Directed by: Alex Proyas.