The Crow (2024) should have been the most widely reviewed film of the bank holiday weekend, but the distributor kept it firmly under wraps for all critics nationwide until the very last minute and that went beyond our deadline.
That kind of policy is never a good sign so we were left to rave about Blink Twice opening at Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza and Cineworld Broad Street instead…
THE CROW (18, 112 mins)
Thirty years after an adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic book creation became best known for the accidental death of Brandon Lee just days before the end of the shoot, Bill Skarsgård steps up to lead a reimagining that includes screenings in IMAX and 4DX at Cineworld Broad Street.
With Danny Huston’s crime lord Roeg thinking he can have an eternal life in return for sending innocent people to hell, can a supernatural crow help Eric to avenge the deaths of himself and girlfriend Shelly (Brit pop star FKA Twigs)?
This is now the fifth film of an ill-defined ‘franchise’ – all created as a result of O’Barr’s fiancee being tragically killed by a drunk driver.
The verdict: *
Setting a superhero in a dark, gothic world sounds like a recipe for box office success, even without adding a ‘purity of true love never dies’ angle to Eric’s thirst to avenge not one, but two murders, including his own.
Especially as the splendid Bill Skarsgård (who played Pennywise in the two ‘It’ movies and Marquis in John Wick 4) comes from an acting dynasty – he’s the son of Swedish legend Stellan Skarsgård and brother of fellow actors Alexander, Gustaf and Valter.
Unfortunately, this latest version of The Crow had already suffered long before it was completed with more than 25 producers credited.
Following on from multiple directors, writers and cast members all showing a keen interest, it’s as if the eventual British director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) ended up not being able to see the wood for the trees.
Never unwatchable but lacking in logic and emotion at the same time as being ultra-violent to the point of unpleasantness, The Crow (2024) fails to develop enough momentum to become an action thriller and doesn’t even threaten to raise the supernatural hairs on the back of your neck.
But, despite Skarsgård’s impressively-sculpted and heavily tattooed muscles working almost as hard as the energetic Oscar-winning composer Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front), The Crow constantly struggles to take flight even with added musical help from Joy Division and Gary Numan.
It comes to something when the highlight of the review day was seeing a real-life crow watching me lock my front door when setting off to see its likeness on the big screen. Now that was SPOOKY.
The Crow photos courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment.
