By 
A TERRIBLE AND FLAT
REMAKE THAT NO ONE ASK FOR
In the world of filmmaking, the term “remake” usually comes up as a “double edge” sword within its undertaking and overall execution. For the good part, it allows filmmakers to revisit an old property and reinvent for a modern audiences; offering up a new take on an old narrative and does so with the usage of updated moviemaking technology (cameras, production setting layouts, visual effects, editing, etc.), better usage of acting talent, and allowing to do things that may or may not have been capable of doing from their original releases. Such prime examples of a good remakes feature film, includes 2006’s The Departed, 2019’s Little Women, 2017’s IT and 2019’s IT: Chapter Two, and 2021’s Dune and 2024’s Dune: Part Two, amongst many others. The bad side, however, is that remakes can sometimes have a negative connotation, which can’t overcome what the original film did, despite the advancements made from modern day movie making performances, skills, and techniques; completely missing the mark on capturing the essence of what made the source material engaging to begin with. Such examples of this can be found in 2015’s Fantastic Four, 2016’s Ben-Hur, 2017’s The Mummy, and 2020’s Dolittle as well as many others. Now, Lionsgate and director Rupert Saunders releases the latest remake film endeavor with the release of The Crow, based on the 1995 cult classic motion picture. Does this remake shine bright with cinematic brilliance or is it a flat reimagining that’s dull and not worth the watch?
THE STORY
Eric (Bill Skarsgard) is an addict that is currently residing in a rehab facility, facing aggression and ire from his inmates and trying to cope through his troubled childhood past. While there, he soon meets with Shelly (FKA Twigs), another patient at the facility who (like him) is dealing with her own problems, but she’s attracted to the Eric, working to remain in his company. The pair quickly develop, but Shelly’s problems, which includes her involving a violent video clip that displays something that the power-hungry man Roeg (Danny Huston) doesn’t want others to see, comes to the facility, with inmates escaping from their rehab prison and setting out to live a free life together. As Eric and Shelly find a small piece of happiness together, their blissful existence is shattered when Roeg’s enforcers find them and kill them. Eric awakens in purgatory realm, offered guidance by the enigmatic Kronos (Karel Dobry), who promises a chance to return Shelly to life if Eric reenters the world he left behind and seek out revenge to those responsible for their deaths, including Roeg. Granted with unnatural healing powers and with steely determination, Eric navigates his way towards Roeg himself, with the powerful man hoping to snatch the unbridled power that Eric has as his own.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
I’m sure that everyone has a personal feeling (or understanding) of what a remake is, especially when examining modern day moviemaking and the narratives that they tell. It definitely goes without saying that Hollywood (and all of those affiliated and associated with studio filmmaking) has sort of “run out of ideas” for the vast majority of their cinematic tales, looking into other source material mediums (video games, novels, toys, children’s games) for inspiration for a lot of their theatrical motion picture endeavors. The same can be also said for remakes, which sees an older film property being reimagined and updated for a new representation of the material for a new generation to see and / or experience. As mentioned, this filmmaking tactic is something I see as a “double edge sword”, which can be both a good and bad thing. I believe that there is always a potential to approach a source material in a different way and bring something new to the cinematic table, which can overtake the original. This has been done (and if done the right way) can be quite a delightful treat for viewers and moviegoers out there. I personally love 2019’s Little Women is perhaps a best adaptation of the classic literary film adaptation, especially considering how many different adaptation versions are out there of Louisa May-Alcott’s narrative. Or something like the duologies of IT (2017’s IT and 2019’s IT: Chapter Two) and Dune (2021’s Dune and 2024’s Dune: Part Two) showcasing a lengthier two-part film endeavor to go deeper (cinematically and in the material) from their previous adapted iterations. On the other hand, remakes (on the usual basis) runs a gambit of being mediocre, with Hollywood completely missing its own mark and failing to make a proper connection with moviegoers with such a new representation of an older narrative. Stuff like 2017’s The Mummy or 2015’s Fantastic Four are such prime examples of this and, while there are many films out there that certainly fits this bill for being “bad remakes”, those two are the epitome of how to do a movie wrong, especially when some of their other adaptation proved to be more lucrative in both likeability and in box office results. In the end, I don’t think that Hollywood will ever give up on the idea of remakes, but I do think that they do need to approach such projects with a bit more integrity and better innovation during such an undertaking. They have shown that some of these projects can bear cinematic fruit in their labor….yet also shows the generic presentation of some in their quick “cash grab” in banking on nostalgia references. Again, as mentioned…..a double edge sword.
Of course, this brings me back to talking about The Crow, a 2024 dark superhero film and a reboot of The Crow film franchise (technically, the fifth installment in the series). I remember my dad had the VHS tape of The Crow and loved it, but my mom never let me (or my brother) watch it because it was “too dark” and “satanical” (her words, not mine). So, I never got to see the original 1994 film until sometime later when I think I was somewhere towards my teenage years. I definitely can see why the appeal was so strong amongst its fanbase and why The Crow became a “cult classic” amongst cinephiles. It’s almost like a “beautiful tragedy” due to actor Brandon Lee being sadly killed while making the picture, with that particular stigma always being attached to it (something similar to actor Heath Ledger with The Dark Knight). I can say that I didn’t catch any of the other sequel Crow films (i.e. The Crow: City of Angels, The Crow: Salvation, The Crow: Wicked Prayer), which I heard were mediocre to bad and nowhere near as close of capturing what the first movie was able to accomplish.
As mentioned, the original Crow feature is to be considered a “cult classic” and, while not much of blockbuster or big money maker at the box office, still has a faithful following amongst its fanbase. This, of course, brings an interest to Hollywood, with the development of an updated remake of the classic dark superhero film trying to land a proper theatrical release date for quite some time. Yes, this new film has been through “development hell”, with a variety of directors, writers, and actors coming and going through the project before everything was locked down properly with a set of cast, crew, and director firmly attached to this remake endeavor. I can’t remember when I first heard about this movie, but it was a lot of “rumor mill” stuff I read online. I think it really didn’t “hit me” that a remake for The Crow was coming out until I saw the film’s movie trailer began to appear both online and in theaters during the “coming attractions” preview reel. From the trailer alone, I wasn’t too impressed with it. It definitely looked like a “Crow” movie, especially with a more darker tones and color palette throughout, but there just something about it that I wasn’t too keen on seeing. Perhaps because it was a remake was really something that fans / moviegoers wanted to see, especially since the original film was sufficient enough and the sequels (as mentioned) were of a lower grade of filmmaking satisfaction.
So, I really didn’t pay much attention to this upcoming 2024 remake as much as others out there and proceed to seek out more new movies that I was more excited to see in the summer movie lineup releases. I think it was around the time of the movie’s release (set for August 23rd, 2024) and I began to see a lot of reviews and opinions on the feature were coming out and almost all were universally bad, citing the film as a bad remake that didn’t come close to the original 1994 picture. Thus, given all the negative press and opinions on the project, I had a fear that the movie was going to get pulled out of theater circulation quite sooner than later, which prompted me to see The Crow before I went on vacation to Costa Rica. Of course, I spent more time relaxing on vacation than working on getting movie reviews done, so I decided to wait until I got back to fully collect my thoughts on this feature and write my review for it. And what did I think of it? Well, I do have to say…. that I have to agree with the majority of viewers out there about this movie. Despite a few attempts here and there, The Crow is haphazard mess and absolute bore of a movie that doesn’t really no want it wants to be, struggling to find its own proper footing amongst its dark and brooding tale of death and revenge. As mentioned, some remakes endeavor out there do actual surpass the original….2024’s The Crow isn’t one of those projects.
The Crow is directed by Rupert Saunders, whose previous directorial works includes such films as Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell. Given his background on such ambitious projects (both of whom are coincidentally remakes or reimagines), Saunders does seem suitable to helm a project like this, approaching the material with a sense of familiarity in wanting to try and bring the same type of dark and moody feeling to this new vision of The Crow’s story and artistry motifs / nuances to the proceedings. To his credit, Saunders partly gets this particular feeling the correct way, presenting a movie that has plenty of “mood” within its dark tale of life, death, and revenge. It’s definitely not polish or well-executed (more on that below), but one does have to give some credit towards Saunders for at least attempting to make a remake of The Crow and updating some of the material for the feature’s narrative story. While the plot gets a bit muddy and diluted along the way, I must admit that Saunder and his team do delve a bit more into Eric’s backstory, which does given him with a more well-rounded character development, with director focusing a lot of time to the him as well as his relationship with Shelly. This, of course, helps the movie propel forward and make their respective journey feel a bit more rewarded by the time the film reaches its ending, which is a good thing for Saunder’s efforts. I also think that there are a few times where the feature’s action does give a decent representation, especially with the big “opera house” scene where such violent acts and go “full throttle” and where the movie lets loose on its R-rated violence. This definitely works the best and where I think that Saunders really wanted to take the movie, but probably had to show restraint. It works, but also (at the same time) it doesn’t….and I’ll explain it better in the paragraphs below. Still, I think Saunders did make a few good decisions in undertaking The Crow, which such modernizations of filmmaking certainly does help elevate the feature from being visually appealing.
Speaking of visually appealing, The Crow’s presentation is perhaps one of the best aspects that the movie has to work with and give this remake a somewhat an identity. As to be expected, the movie is saturated within its moody atmospheric, with a lot dark and shadowing usage of effects and production layout to showcase the proper “gloomy” tale being told. Thus, there is not a whole lot of bright and vivid coloring (as what was intended to be) and offers a color palette that is filled with muted shades, which does offer a more “darker tone” to the feature as well as the gravitas of the presentation. Again, this does work in the film’s favor and gives it’s a visual identity throughout. Thus, the film’s “behind the scenes” main players, including Robin Brown (production design), Holly Thurman (set decorations), Kurt and Bart (costume designs), and Guy Bradley and Pavel Tatar (art direction) for their efforts in bringing this film world to life in the way that was projected in the final product. Additionally, the cinematography work by Steve Annis gives an adequate job in the movie and has few several moments where brilliance shines through. Those captured moments (mostly the mentioned “opera house” scene) is where the film fully clicks together the right way, with Annis’s direction for capturing cinematic taste is rather good. Everything else, however, is just mediocre at best. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Volker Bertelmann, is decent at best and sort of gets the job done throughout the feature. It’s not a downright terrible musical composition as the score does help a few scenes be more impactful, but, for the most part, the Bertelmann’s presentation is just there as film soundtrack, with not much to stand out.
Unfortunately, the movie itself is punctured by sloppy ideas, befuddling approaches to the material, and just poor execution from start to finish, which results in The Crow being a terrible state of cinematic purgatory. How so? Well, for starters, the movie (in its entirety) feels so boring and lackluster, which does derive from Saunder’s direction for the feature. Everything about the movie from its story (which I will get into a little bit) to its characters and overall execution of mostly everything feels incredibly dull and flat. Saunders lacks the finesse and proper “pizzaz” to the make the movie come alive and exploded with either enticement or excitement, creating a rather drab motion picture that is boring to watch. This is most notable during the entire first half, which not much happens. Yes, the characters are introduced and storytelling elements are presented, but (again) it’s shown in a way that makes the whole production feel extremely sluggish and boring. Basically, not a whole lot happens in the first half of the movie, resulting in a rather drab and uninteresting film narrative that goes little to engage viewers within its plot and characters. Things to pick up a little bit more in the latter half of the feature, but not by much, with Saunder (again) struggling to find a proper balance of storytelling and characters amongst the story being told. Even when things start to form and take shape in the feature’s narrative, everything is presented in rather bland way that sort of feels contrived to the movie’s tone and overall anti-hero journey that it was desperately wants to be a bit edgy.
Additionally, this also brings up the feature’s pacing, which definitely feels sluggish throughout and certainly does struggle to find a proper balance to its own time management projections. Given the fact that the feature has a runtime under two hours (111 minutes = one hour and fifty-one minutes), one would think that everything would be running smoothly, with not much excessiveness or bloated fillers substance to distract from the main plot being told. However, while the feature doesn’t, the film still feel slow at times (again, especially during the first half) and creates numerous (and sometimes glaring) problematic areas that don’t exactly pan out correctly.
Perhaps the biggest blunder would have to be the film’s story or rather the script and the sorely lacking attempt to reinvent and reimaging The Crow’s narrative for this new representation. The script, which was penned by Zach Baylin and William Josef Schneider, tries to put a larger emphasis on the relationship between Eric and Shelly, which certainly help build a better connection and gives a clearer purpose to defeat the main antagonist in the film. Yet, it also feels quite shallow and poorly constructed from the story boarding process. Furthermore, the whole “anti-hero” journey is pushed aside for most of the feature because more attention to Eric and Shelly’s relationship, which renders The Crow rather boring and mundane to watch. I get that the script was trying to “invest” more time into the driving force relationship between the two of them, but it comes at the expense of the feature’s anti-hero action heroics and violent gothic drama. Plus, there is a lot of confusing (and sometimes perplexing) scenes that the movie’s story doesn’t explain in a proper way. What do I mean? Something like Roeg’s powers and his dealings with those in power in Hell…it’s never fully explained or Kronos’s real intent and his role in purgatory. There are several other storytelling nuances that are quite vague and ambiguous, leaving of narrative elements rather confusing and clunkily handled and leaving things unanswered or unclear is never good. To put it bluntly, the story being told in The Crow is quite familiar, yet this movie’s script is quite generic and is ultimately unmemorable and forgettable.
Another big problem with the movie is within its overall tone and how it wants to be portrayed. What do I mean by that? Well, there is no doubt about it that this 2024 remake wants to be dark and edgy (much like the previous Crow iterations), but most of the film feels like a PG-13 rating, which does render a lot of the violent acts moot. There is one “big scene” (aka the opera scene) where everything “clicks” the right way in making the violent R-rated action. Yet, it all does feel a bit out of place with the rest of the feature. Thus, there is some level of inconsistency felt throughout much of The Crow’s undertaking and execution, leaving the overall tone still quite moody and drab, but still wonky and clunky…..desperately wanting to be heavy on the R-rated action yet still plays more like a wannabe PG-13 flick. Who’s to blame? Well, I probably would say that Saunders is, especially with the director creating an uneven balance amongst everything, including the thematic tone of the feature. Even the film’s action sequences, which are supposed to be some of the big “highlighted” moments of the story, seem rather muted and dull, which creates an uninspiring fighting stances and scenes that are just as lackluster and stalely generic as they come.
The cast in The Crow is also another problem that the movie faces criticism, with the selected acting talent hopelessly trying to find an on-screen footing for their respective characters yet fail to do so given their thinly sketched roles and lack of direction from Saunder himself. Thus, most (if not all) feel lost in the movie and only give a half-baked performance in their respective parts, rendering all the characters in the film rather flat and dull. Headlining the feature is actor Bill Skarsgard, who plays the movie’s main protagonist lead of Eric. Known for his roles in IT, Boy Kills World, and John Wick: Chapter 4, Skarsgard has certainly been making a name for himself over the past several years, appearing more and more frequently in major studio films and in larger roles in his acting capacity. Thus, given that notion, Skarsgard is a favorable (and strong enough) to take on the lead character role, which is probably why he got the part to play Eric in this remake of The Crow. He has the right look of such a character, with Eric being dark and brooding individual that is tortured by his past and getting caught up in larger events of life and death crisis. To that affect, Skarsgard seems like the correct choice to play such a character. However, there is something a bit off about his performance, with the movie not really giving the actor enough material to make his portrayal of Eric compelling or memorable. Naturally, the film’s script is perhaps the biggest culprit in this regard as there isn’t much for Skarsgard to play around with, especially when the script itself is riddled with glaring and problematic ground to cover. Plus, Saunder’s overall direction for the character of Eric seems rather clunky and wooden, which does come across Skarsgard’s performance. The character itself is just another weak construct shadow of what the original film was able to do and well….let’s be honest…. Skarsgard is no Brandon Lee. In the end, the character of Eric is rather a bland and uninteresting main protagonist and, while I do like Skarsgard as an actor, he doesn’t really fit the part and doesn’t really bring anything to the cinematic table.
The same can be said about the character of Shelly, Eric’s girlfriend in the film, and who is played by actress / singer FKA Twigs (Honey Boy and Sad Day). How so? Well, I do have to say that the character of Shelley (for better or worse) is rather vanilla and flat from the get-go. The script tries to do something with her character in the first act, but it sort of fizzles out and doesn’t really go anywhere. Plus, it doesn’t help that Twigs isn’t that really great of an actress. I’m not saying she’s downright terrible or gives a bad acting performance in the role, but she never makes the character her own, feeling like her portrayal of Shelley seems, more or less, a shell of another character from a similar project. Again, the story tries to give her depth, but it never comes to fruition or rather it just is presented by ways and means of being dumped into the movie with very little cinematic ingenuity or integrity. This then causes the flimsy script and character dialogue given to Twigs, who (in turn) has very little to go off of and results in a rather mediocre performance in the role. Additionally, the on-screen chemistry for both Skarsgard and Twigs is very drool and non-existent, with the pair feeling more awkward together than harmonizing with each other. I get what they were trying to do with their characters, but it’s really a “hard sell” and no that doesn’t feel natural. Thus, despite their several attempts, I simply couldn’t buy into Skarsgard and Twigs’s chemistry and (in turn) couldn’t buy into the love relationship between Eric and Shelly in the movie.
Who actual fares the worst in the entire film is the story’s main antagonist character of Vincent Roeg, a demonic crime lord who gets entangled with the lives of both Shelly and Eric, and who is played by actor Danny Huston (Children of Men and X-Men Origins: Wolverine). The big problem with this particular character is how bland and generic he is throughout the entire film. There’s definitely something about him that makes him sinister and act like the “big bad” in the narrative, but there’s just something off about him. It feels like there was (originally) going to be a bit more substance to Roeg, but was cut and edited down to just a boring, generic “baddie of the week” type of villain. There’s some intrigue to his usage of demonic mind-control, but it’s not used the correct way and ends up being rather goofy at times. Huston is fine in the role, but he doesn’t have much to play around with, which leaves him a little bit lost throughout much of his screen time. Basically, he lets his “screen presence” do much of the leg work for the feature because the script written for his character of Roeg is abysmal and flat.
The rest of the cast, including actress Laura Birn (Helene and Foundation) as Roeg’s right-hand assistant Marion, actress Isabella Wei (Black Doves and 1899) as Shelly’s friend Zadie, Josette Simon (Blake’s 7 and Wonder Woman) as Shelly’s mother Sophia, actor Jordan Bolger (The Woman King and iBoy) as tattoo artist and friend to both Eric and Shelly named Chance, actor Karel Dobry (Mission: Impossible and Hastrman) as Roman, actor David Bowles (Personal Shopper and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) as Wickham, actor Sebastian Orozco (Halo and Masters of the Air) as Dorm, actor Trigga (Top Boy) as Lex, and actor Sami Bouajila (The Siege and Ganglands) as Kronos, make up the remaining minor supporting players throughout the narrative. While all the talent in this group has appeared in several past projects (and made their mark on those particular projects), their participation in The Crow feels lackluster, which (again) comes with the film’s territory of being rather flat and generic, including these minor characters in the feature.
FINAL THOUGHTS
After suffering an unexpected death (along with the love of his life), Eric is given the chance to seek revenge against the one behind their murders in order to save his girlfriend’s soul from damnation in the movie The Crow. Director Rupert Saunders’s latest film seeks to reimagine the classic narrative found from the cult favorite 1994 The Crow feature, updating the material with a few cinematic nuances and visual peripherals. Unfortunately, despite those several attempts here and there, the movie itself is utterly deflated and devoid of excitement or intrigue, which was mostly due to Saunder’s poor direction, a generic script, flat dialogue, clunky mechanics, uneven pacing, tonal all over the place, thinly sketched characters, and wasting the acting talent involved on the picture. Personally, I didn’t like this movie at all. Of course, I sort of knew this going into the movie, so I wasn’t massively disappointed. Yet, at the same time, I did expect more from this film, which makes it that much worse. From the boring first half to the inconsistent tones and even the bland performances, everything about this 2024 remake screams mediocre level at best and just a bad film….and not in the way of “it’s so bad, it’s good” type vibe. It’s just a dull and derivate movie…plain and simple. Thus, it comes at no surprise that my recommendation for this movie would be definitively hard “skip it” as it really doesn’t bring anything much to the table and doesn’t really go beyond (nor surpass) the original cult classic film. Fans of that particular film will want to steer clear of this movie and just go back enjoy watching the 1995 movie all over again. Trust me, it’s in your best interest. In the end, The Crow will definitely go down in cinematic history, but for all the wrong reasons, with the feature being a prime (and cautionary) example to Hollywood of how not to do a terrible and flat remake that no one ask for.
1.2 Out of 5 (Skip It)
The Official The Crow Website Link: HERE
Released On: August 23rd, 2024
Reviewed On: November 20th, 2024
The Crow is 111 minutes long and is rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, sexuality / nudity, and drug usage
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