12/15/2009

Then They Found a Dark Angel in The Crow



Tagline: Believe in angels.


THE CROW
Alex Proyas, 1994

Plot: Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) are murdered by a bunch of lunatics. One year later, Eric is brought back to life. Armed with supernatural powers and guided by a crow, Eric hunts down the punks who wronged him and his fiancée. A kind heart even when he was still alive, Eric also saves helpless people and tries to make wrong things right.

Brandon Lee's brilliant performance illuminates this dark film. Lee is intense as The Crow. His actions stunts — though not as great as his father's — are amazing. The things that I really like about Lee are his agility AND emotional range. He can be physical and touching at the same time. I even forgot that he was (legendary) Bruce Lee's son. Had he lived, Brandon Lee might have become one of the most versatile actors of our time.




Rochelle Davis was engaging as Sarah (Eric and Shelly's friend). Her line readings are adequately good. But, The Crow is her only film... so far. The actors who played the thugs were able to really make me hate their characters.

Alex Proyas was able to convey James O'Barr's stylish comic book very well. The tale of revenge has been done in films a bunch of times, but The Crow does it with gothic style. The film's cinematography is as dark as its plot. You can really feel the city's gloom through Dariusz Wolski's work. The Crow's makeup kinda reminds me of The Joker's (of The Dark Knight), or should I say, The Joker's makeup kinda reminds me of The Crow's. The soundtrack is neat. The Crow is almost as legendary as its lead actor.

My rating: 7.5/10 - I'm not really a big fan of films with fantasy element, but Brandon Lee's remarkable performance and the film's piercing finale somehow got me hooked to The Crow.


Trailer for The Crow:




DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement intended. I don't own or claim to own any of the photos used.



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