The Crow

It seems comic book movies are all the rage nowadays. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, The Green Lantern, all of which have been made into successful film. But back in 1994, a lesser-known comic book series was turned in to a film, and a very good one at that; The Crow.

The movie is directed by Alex Proyas (I, Robot) and stars Brandon Lee in his tragic final role, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott and Rochelle Davis. It is set in Detroit, on October 30th, over 2 subsequent years, and involves a man who is brought back from the dead in order to avenge the death of himself and his fiancé. It's stylish, atmospheric, and full of kick-ass action scenes.

On the day before Halloween, know as Devil's Night, Eric Draven (Lee) a musician, and his fiancé Shelly Webster are brutally murdered by a group of thugs. The scene is investigated by Sergeant Albrect (Hudson). He comes across a girl called Sarah (David), whom Eric and Shelly used to care for, due to her mother being a negligent drug addict.

1 year later, Eric is brought back to life as a crow taps on his gravestone. He returns to his former apartment, and is haunted by flashbacks of his and his fiancés murder. Eric discovers that he is now physically indestructible, as any mortal wounds he sustains heal immediately. He then dresses entirely in black, paints his face to resemble a harlequin mask, and sets out seeking retribution under the watchful eye of the enigmatic crow.

The crow leads Eric to the gang members who were responsible for the grisly murders, and kills them one by one. During one of these revenge killings, he finds that the gang member is taking morphine with Sarah's mum Darla. After killing the thug, he convinces Darla to quit taking drugs, and she attempts to become a better mother.

Eventually, after eliminating all of the thugs, Eric goes after the leader of the gang, the man who actually orchestrated the murders, Top Dollar (Wincott), him being the last person he needs to kill before his vengeance is complete.

Generally speaking, if you mention this movie to anyone that knows anything about it, they will no doubt bring up the on-set demise of Brandon Lee. During filming, dummy rounds were used in used in an earlier scenes, and one became stuck in one of the guns. In Lee's final scene, this dummy round was forced out of the gun when fired, and lodged in Lee's spine. If you watch the scene you can actually see the moment when the bullet strikes him.

While marred by the death of it's star, The Crow is still a great film, truly fantastic. It has that dark, Gothic atmosphere that Tim Burton has practically made his career out of. It feels like you are truly in a dystopian metropolis at the height of its decadence. The fight scenes are spectacular, the methods by which Eric kills the gang members are often downright inspired, and Lee completely embodies the undead rockstar persona: The look, the mannerisms, even the way he moves. Allegedly, Lee was so excited to play the part because he was interested in how a deadman would actually behave. No one can really be sure, but Lee makes an admirable effort, and certainly ends his career with a bang; no pun intended.