Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Crow (1994)
Director: Alex Proyas
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Lee died making this supernatural rock-star revenge movie, and, after the lawsuits, recriminations and distribution problems, it has mopped up at the US box office. Lee had almost completed filming, so the thrust of the story (from James O'Barr's graphic novel) is intact. The footage has been bumped up with flashbacks, stand-in shots, and hi-tech tweaking whereby Lee was extracted from spare scenes and installed in new ones. It's unobtrusively done, but makes the action a touch repetitive. More radically, the sicko storyline has been softened, becoming an elegiac, not to say maudlin, portrait of lost love. This has, sadly, worked to the advantage of the film: what was once slick, vacuous and trashy is now shot through with a terrible post-production irony. This is a most morbid film, a twisted Gothic romance with shards of the original black wisecracking splintering through the portentousness. Visually, it's a treat; characterisation is sharp, particularly the nicely defined villains; and the action scenes, though soft-pedalled, still pack a satisfying crunch.Author: SFe
Cast & crew
Director: Alex Proyas
Producer: Edward R Pressman, Jeff Most
Cast: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David full cast
Genre(s): Fantasy
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now