"The Crow" (2024) - What people expected nerds to turn into after Joker (2019)

Josh
Nov 18, 2024
6 min read

Rupert Sanders (2024)

Why'd they put him in a Goon jacket?

In the 80s James O’Barr suffered a tragedy, losing his fiancee at a young age, he took his pain and formed it into art. He created a tragic love story graphic novel, The Crow, sparking into a cult classic and boosting its success when it was picked up for a film adaptation by local Alex Proyas. And the 1994 film isn’t unfamiliar with tragedy either. The infamous production with the accidental death of rising star Brandon Lee on set adds another layer of sadness and appreciation for fans of this romanticised gothic cinematic cult classic. To attempt another adaptation of this story already feels like an impossible task without spitting on the legacy of the young talented artist. The Crow 2024 by Rupert Sanders was tragic. It was a tragic waste of time and effort that failed to build a romance between our two characters which is arguably the most important aspect of this story. And with everything I could find about the production, James O’Barr had some pretty heavy involvement. Claiming that it was more of a re-adaptation of his original story and not a remake. And it’s been a long time since I read the original novel but I remember it being very different to what I watched.

As mentioned, the heart of this film is the love story. A love that spans across time, life and death. The relationship between our two misfit lead characters, Eric (Bill Skarsgard) and Shelly (FKA twigs) has little to no chemistry or spark or growth to the point where I was reminded of the relationship between Anikin and Padma in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (I’ll touch on that in a bit). Both characters meet in a juvey-style prison after Shelly gets charged with drug possession. This in of itself is a confusing moment, as she’s getting chased by a group of men, and while in pursuit she walks straight into a cop where they find the drugs on her. But with the way it was executed, I couldn't tell if it was done on purpose or accident. Although their stint in Juvey is shorted as they very quickly gain feelings towards each other, enough that she trusts him to escape the facility as the group she was running from caught up to her. Luckily for them, but boring for the audience as this proves no challenge for the couple as their tracking bracelet is easily removed and they pretty much just lightly jog out of there. On the outside world, their love for each other grows (we don’t feel that but boy are they trying hard to convince me they love each other, we’ll get to that) but it comes to an end when Shelly’s past catches up to her and both characters are killed. And the rest of the movie plays out similarly to the original. With pure burning love, Eric is sent back to Earth to clear up unfinished business to get revenge on those who hurt Shelly. Only with pure love can he enact this path of violence in hopes of saving Shelly from eternal damnation.

I felt little to no chemistry or emotion between Eric and Shelly, which is an issue with the premise of the film, I should feel as in love with both of these characters as they are with each other. Sadly, the way their flourishing love is presented is a kin to a Coca-Cola commercial. Utilising soft focus lens and montage style editing of them doing generic movie couple things like dress ups, lake swimming and drugs. I never felt like I was experiencing their relationship rather then I was being shown the idea of their relationship. And it’s all amplified with the over-the-top sappy dialogue between them, hence the comparison to Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. We get lines that no one will ever say like, “If I’m ever hard to love, then love me harder” as they kiss each other through a white curtain. And it’s not to say the original movie didn’t have some over-the-top dialogue but it’s presented in a way that is more poetic and tragic coming from a lost soul. Here is just cringe and doesn’t help that each line is said softly and slowly to the point where they feel like they’re trying to talk while on acid. And once the montage was said and done, I honestly had no concept of how long all of this had been going on for either. During one of their dress-up moments, a jacket is left on an armchair which is then picked up again by Eric when he’s returned from the dead. It’s a small thing but it got me thinking either no one moved that jacket or what we just saw took place over a few days. The way it was presented reminded me a bit of the bike jump cut in Wish Upon.

A positive for this film is the bluntness and brutality behind its revenge-fueled violence. The effects used were convincing enough although none of the action scenes were very exciting. What made the action in the original unique was how Brandon Lee moved with all the grace of a gymnast, which was also accompanied by his poetic wordplay. Skarsgard, takes the more brutish approach, taking out his opponents dressed as an alt-version of Jarod Letos Joker. I would’ve found it more entertaining if he just wore the “GOON” jacket throughout the whole film. As one of the perks of being returned to the land of the living is that you cannot die, it would’ve been good to have the aspect utilised more in the action. We get an action scene against the backdrop of Robert le Diable, with the violent choreography syncing with stings and notes, which is the most memberial scene. As mentioned, the fact he cannot die is lightly used here but nothing original is done, he shoots himself to hit the person behind him, or while impaled with a sword lads on someone else to kill them. As goofy as it is, going for some of the creativity in the Deadpool movies would’ve elevated the scene. Within this movie, there is a layer of clunkiness as for some reason, they have the moment where a killing blow is executed right when the music cuts out twice. Even the ending isn’t very creative or special in any way. I was hoping for some wit and cleverness to defeat the villain, played by Danny Huston, as his supernatural powers are demonstrated numerous times throughout the film. But we end with Eric just punching him.

And I found one of the bigger weaknesses is the villain, a typical generic villain that talks with grace and elegance but is truly relentless, a character we’ve seen time and time again. He alludes to being a creature that has walked the Earth for 100s of years, who has the ability to influence people to do his bidding. Or cause themselves harm, which is the action that sparks the pursuit of Shelly. It’s slowly revealed that she was meant to be a musician for him until she flees after seeing him use his powers on someone in person. Again, nothing original is done with this concept, if he influences people so easily he could very much do some pretty interesting things but we don’t get much at all. There’s a little side plot with this character as he looks for a new musician to replace Shelly and she slowly begins to unravel and witness what Shelly did. But it goes nowhere.

I don’t recommend this film, nothing about it stands out as worth a watch but has given me a new appreciation for Brandon Lee’s performance. Rupert Sanders, doesn’t offer much that excels above that original. It’s a mash of played-out concepts on top of scenes and characters we’ve already seen before who we don’t care about. Even with the younger fresh cast, I can’t see a new generation taking this onboard with the unrelatable relationship between the two characters. This is sad as this movie could’ve introduced a younger crowd to the tragic work of O’Barr.