My Review of The Crow (1994)

Rating Scale:

12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made

---

Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing "The Crow" from 1994. Now, this was another old film I've surprisingly never heard about nor ever watched until recently. I came across this movie by researching Michael Wincott's filmography, and this film was mentioned therein. As I was curious about this movie, I read the synopsis and noticed the other cast members who were a part of it. That instantly caught my interest, and I decided to watch it on Paramount+. After watching it for the first time, I was honestly...blown away by its raw violence and hardcore storytelling. It is no wonder why so many people regard it as one of the best rated R movies of all time.

This movie tells a tragic story that also involves vengeance. As a rock musician walked home one night (who previously had plans to get married on Halloween), he gets stabbed in the chest while his fiancée is raped and murdered. He is then fatally shot before he gets thrown right out the window. One year later, a mysterious crow with mystical powers ignites his resurrection. Exhausted and weak, he returns to what remains of his apartment and remembers vividly everything that happened to him. Fueled by rage, he prepares himself to exact revenge against his murderers.

This story was really well-done in almost every way. It shows us the depravity of criminals who wreck havoc on society whenever they please which makes us root for the main character, especially in light of what happened to him prior to the start of the film. We even see what the city is like on a daily basis--well, mostly during the night and how people manage their activities despite the arsons that occur quite often.

Eric Draven is one of the best characters of the movie. The way he displayed his jester personality while hunting down gang members was so satisfying to watch. He's basically the heroic version of the Joker, my namesake. Speaking of which, this was both amazing and sad to watch at the same time because a terrible accident occurred during the production of "The Crow". Brandon Lee was accidently shot by Michael Massee with a faulty prop gun on set; that incident traumatized and haunted Massee ever since that time which prompted him to take a break from acting for a year.

Both men did a fantastic job with their respective roles of Eric and Funboy. May they both rest in peace, and it is really terrible that happened.

The soundtrack and the cinematography were also pretty good. They certainly kept me invested throughout the movie, that's for sure.

Michael Wincott was honestly pretty cool as the main antagonist: Top Dollar. While I admire the way he acted, his character unfortunately comes across as a generic evil crime lord. So while he may not be as interesting as he appears to be, I do like how he rarely loses his temper when things don't go according to plan. He's always so calm and collected under unexpected circumstances. So there are things to like about him and things to hate about him...such as being into incest and taking people's eyeballs.

I also liked Ernie Hudson in this movie. His character reminds me so much of Commissioner Jim Gordon from the Batman universe; he is to Eric Draven what Gordon is to Batman.

Here is what I loved the most about this movie: our protagonist exacts righteous revenge against our villains, but he doesn't lose his humanity in the process. Every time he kills a criminal, he will also do something good for other people. He tells people to not do drugs, not smoke, and he even set that girl's mother straight in the right path and told her to be a better mother! So not only is he an undead vigilante but also a kind-hearted hero. Oh, and that crow is the true MVP of the journey. Thank goodness it survived at the end.

This shows us just how wicked this world has become. But despite what happened to Eric, he never forgot the love he shared with his fiancée Shelly. This is both a tragic love story and an epic revenge story mingled into one. And it was really touching to see him reunited with her again in death/afterlife after his mission was completed.

Overall, I can see how this movie inspired a lot of films in the following years due to its unique take on the characters from the comic series of the same name. With that said, I will give this a solid 10/10. I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in gothic superheroes.

Peace out!

P.S. Both Heath Ledger and Brandon Lee died at the same age of 28...during productions of their own movies under different circumstances. Isn't that interesting?