Watching Brandon Lee in The Crow reminded me of a couple of people. The most obvious one to me is Sting back when wrestling was at its awesomest. (Be honest, you used to watch wrestling and you loved it.) He totally ripped off The Crow's whole look and persona. I wonder if there were any lawsuits. The other reminders are unfortunately for somber reasons. One is his father, the legendary Bruce Lee, who also died well before his prime. The other is Heath Ledger who also donned face paint in his last role in The Dark Knight. Watching Brandon Lee and Ledger play such dark characters in these films made their performances all the more special, all the more tragic. Anyone familiar with The Crow gets the cruel joke, Brandon Lee playing a guy who returns from the dead. The fact that he died filming the movie makes The Crow remembered for all the wrong reasons, but also enhances it as well, adding to the dark and foreboding feel of the film, making his character all the more real and ominous.
I'll just be honest here though; The Crow is a decent movie that has probably maintained its popularity due to its circumstances. Would it still be on anyone's radar if Brandon Lee were still alive? That being said, there are plenty of good things about the film, namely its ability to create and maintain a dark and edgy atmosphere that many other films fail to capture. Set during Devil's Night in Detroit, the film does a good job in capturing the dark and grimy feel that is reminiscent of Batman's Gotham City. It is not a place you'd feel safe walking alone at night and is a perfect setting for The Crow to lurk in the shadows.
The story is simple enough. A man and his wife are brutally murdered one night. Sometimes when someone dies a particularly horrific death their soul is allowed to return with the help of a crow to set things right. One year later the man returns from the dead to enact revenge on those who murdered him and his wife. He has come back angry and out to kill, but also tries to hang on to his humanity through connections to his past life, mainly his relationship with with a little girl he once knew and the police officer who worked his murder case. The plot doesn't matter that much. It's all about the look and feel. It's about the under-lit alleyways, the dark corners, the shadows, the filth, the grime, the criminals, the violence, Brandon Lee as the avenger of death. That it does very well; the rest, well... It has its holes. It is not particularly well acted or written. There are odd moments of humor. Characters aren't really believable. It can almost be described as generic and formulaic, at times even cheesy. It is carried completely by Brandon Lee's performance, while good, isn't otherworldly like Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
I imagine I would have enjoyed The Crow even without knowing anything about its background. But knowing what we know, it is almost impossible to separate the movie from its circumstances. For that reason the film will always talked about and remembered for the wrong reasons. All things aside, it is a decent film that showcases Brandon Lee's budding talent and potential. We'll never know if he would have reached the superstardom that his father achieved. Some have even said that The Crow is better than anything Bruce Lee ever did (acting wise at least). I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but it is some food for thought.
Grade: B-
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