My quick rating - 9,1/10. A masterpiece.
My review from 1994: It is only about 4 hours removed from the theater as I find myself at my computer to type up this weekends Flick Pick. Unfortunately for this night, it is more in memoriam. I'll give a slight bit of background to this. As many of you may know, this is Brandon Lee's final film, as he was accidentally shot during the filming. This is a gut-wrenching loss to many, especially the Lee family. It was only a little over 10 years ago, I realized that the amazing martial artist my grandfather had shown me movies of as a kid, Bruce Lee, had mysteriously died as well. Now some 10 years later, I sit and write this review in hopes that as you read the newspaper today, you may come to see this is much more than an entertainer that has passed away, but a family that is cursed. The task at hand is to review the movie without reflecting much on the fact that this is likely to be another finale to a career cut far too short.
The story begins with the resurrection of a dead rock star named Eric Draven (Lee) after being murdered, along with his fiancee, on the eve of their wedding. His soul is transported to the next world (according to the narration) by a crow; but when a spirit is unhappy there because of unsettled business on earth, sometimes the crow will bring him back again. And so a year later, on All Hallows Eve, Eric reappears on earth, vowing vengeance on those who committed the murders - and the evil kingpin who ordered them. This basically sums up what storywise you need to know. What you see though is a stunning work of visual style (the best version of a comic book universe I've seen) and Brandon Lee clearly demonstrates in it that he was well on his way to being the next big action star. All of this merely exists to allow Alex Proyas to delve headfirst into a surreal and gothic world rarely seen or imagined to this stunning extent.
The visual style is top notch full of miniatures, the camera swoops high above the city or dips low for extreme-angle shots. Shadows cast fearsome daggers into the light. Buildings are exaggerated in their architectural detail of film noir. "The Crow," with its fast pace and its countless camera set-ups, evokes comics much more than the more good-looking but allows the actors to be adapted in appearance to this graphic noir vision; their appearances are as exaggerated as the shots they appear in. The breasts of women in comic books always seem improbably perfect but sketched in and the villainess Myca (Bai Ling) in this story has the same look. As the half-sister of the villain, she represents a drawn image, not a person, and so do many of the other characters, including a thin Brandon Lee as the hero appearing somewhat like the anime vampires in manga. The cast itself was perfectly chosen to fit the ragtag mold of thugs in this fictional world. Rochelle Davis as Sarah, a neighbor of the Dravens, often steals the show with her piercing eyes and believable dialogue. At times the film looks like a violent music video, all images and action, no content with a soundtrack is wall-to-wall hard rock including NIN, Pantera, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. The action scenes are choreographed to near perfection often leaving you in awe of what you are seeing evoking a world where the bizarre reality, not the story, is the point. Even a scene with a nod to John Woo gets its own dark take with its intense double-handed flair.
I left the theater sad, knowing what his father had accomplished and never was able to see his son accomplish as well. Both careers seemed cut short just as early potential was being realized. As both Bruce and Brandon Lee's legacies will continue on after death, for now, their works have been preserved on film for us to enjoy. In irony, the whole movie is about a hero who is resurrected to take care of unfinished business. If any form of the supernatural exists, I, for one, would love to see Brandon return. But for now, RIP
If you have never seen this flick, check these streamers since it is that good.
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