A new The Crow film has been in development for decades. During that time the project has passed through the hands of several directors, and a never-ending parade of actors linked to the role of Eric Draven. In a feat deemed impossible by many, director Rupert Sanders was finally able to get the project over the line with Bill Skarsgård as his titular Crow.
Billed as a remake of Alex Proyas’ 1994 Goth classic, The Crow was immediately hit with spite and malice when the first trailer launched. Most found it too unlike the material it was supposed to be re-treading and instantly turned their backs on it. However, this version of The Crow is so far removed from the source, that to think of it as a remake does the film a disservice. Other than the names of the central characters of Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs), there is next to nothing from James O’Barr’s original comic book story. A better move might have been to simply rename these characters. This is something that all the other Crow movies have done, and although many of them were critically mauled, they were not instantly written off due to them not conforming to expectations.
Although the story may have changed in this new film, the tone and atmosphere remain the same. Much of this is generated by its excellent soundtrack, which is a melancholic and angsty blend of Gary Numan, Foals, Joy Division, The Veils, and Enya. Each song has been carefully curated to emote a particular feeling. Some are set to montages, others play behind emotional scenes, deepening the viewer’s attachment to the characters on screen. Although not quite as iconic a collection as the original film’s soundtrack, it comes close.
The locations and production design also feel authentic to O’Barr’s original image. Sanders interprets the black and white drawings in his own way. The result is that his vision for The Crow shares DNA with its source, but never feels like a carbon copy. This was an issue for some of the previous sequels; they became so burdened with trying to fit audiences expectations that they just felt like sad imitations. In striving to subvert expectations, Sanders has managed to make a film that captures the correct mood and tone, but brings it up to date for a more modern audience.
What makes this version of The Crow so compelling however, are the central performances of both Skarsgård and Twigs. In both James O’Barr’s comic and Proyas’ film, the character of Shelly has been confined purely to ghost and victim. All that the audience ever really knows about her is the horrific way in which she is murdered. This time around, Shelly is granted far more screentime. In The Crow Shelly is introduced as she tries to skip town after her friend sends her a video that lands her on hot water with the wrong people. In giving Shelly her own back story, she feels more three dimensional, and Twigs’ performance is both ferocious and vulnerable. The perfect partnership.
Along her journey, Shelly is arrested for drug possession and sent to a rehab facility. It is at this point that she meets Eric. The two combust onscreen and the audience become intoxicated by their lust for one another. Both are broken, but together they are whole. Two drifting dreamers thrown into each other’s orbits and immediately gravitating towards one another. Their early flirtations within the rehab centre are adorably cute. This quickly switches upon their escape, cute making way for insatiable passion. When the two are later wrenched apart, the viewer feels the loss just as Eric does, making for a more immersive viewing experience.
Bill Skarsgård has quickly established himself as an actor unafraid of a challenge. Stepping into the boots of a character made famous by the late Brandon Lee is no easy feat, but Skarsgård manages to make the part his own. His performance is more of a wounded bird than Lee’s iteration. There is little joking within him, but equally he isn’t all doom and gloom. Instead, his version of Eric moves on instinct, spurred on by love and the lifelong drive to put the wrong things right. Skarsgård plays Eric as the perfect damaged hero, and is sure to have a legion of young Emos and Goths falling head over heels for the character.
Skarsgård has already demonstrated his action prowess earlier this year in the utterly fantastic Boy Kills World. With The Crow he continues to hone this skillset. Whilst many of his fight sequences are short, they are all bloody; Sanders gleefully earned the film’s 18 certificate. The standout action set piece comes at the start of the final act as Eric hacks apart an opera house full of bad guys with the use of a samurai sword. This sequence could easily be a deleted scene from a John Wick movie. It’s a bloody ballet of gapping jaws, rolling heads, and severed limbs.
Rupert Sanders has taken a long thought cursed project and resurrected it for a new generation. Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs sizzle, and the the soundtrack smoulders, creating a haunting tale of tragedy ready to bewitch all that enter into The Crow with an open mind and heart.
The Crow is still out in select cinemas across the UK.
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