The story behind The Crow has been well documented. You Google the movie and you’ll read about the tragic on-set death of Brandon Lee. Very sad and a cautionary tale for on-set accidents.
Now the movie, if in case you don’t know, is about Eric Draven coming back from the grave and killing the people responsible for murdering him and his fiancee Shelley. The story has been done multiple times, especially The Crow which spawned three inferior sequels, but this one is special.
Can’t rain all the time.
Boasted by strong performances from Brandon Lee and Michael Wincott the movie has alot going for it without throwing it in your face like a lot of comic book adaptations coming out today. It creates an ugly, gritty world that you definitely don’t wanna visit with rotting buildings, non-stop rain, horrible villains, a dark sound track and even a taxi cab driver who wouldn’t even slow down for a girl trying to skate on her skateboard. What a dick head.
The villains of the movie are a little bit crazy, but also add the menace the movie needs to balance out the melancholy side of Eric Draven’s story. Main bad guy Top Dollar, played by Michael Wincott, is one for the books. The guy does weird things with eyeballs and has a complicated relationship with his sister. He even let’s out some things about his childhood that adds layers to the character that doesn’t make him just some random villain in a movie. And he is very quotable. Sporting super cool long hair and that chill-mode feel to him, Wincott plays it to perfection. When it’s time to perform for his cronies, he comes off almost Evangelical and you can see why he leads people. If only you used that for good, Top Dollar. Damn.
Michael Wincott as Top Dollar in the Crow.
The film is also littered with characters like Ernie Hudson who helps Eric along the way, Sarah who is the little street-tough kid who was affected by the death of Eric and Shelley and let’s not forget Gabriel the cat who even hisses and bites one of the bad guys when the murders happen. Good job, Gabriel. The film’s villains, besides Top Dollar, are also there for your enjoyment. Skank in particular is good for a laugh.
The death of Brandon Lee does add some dramatic punch to the movie and with him playing a guy coming back from the dead, it’s also a little eerie and poetic at the same time. Almost as if the sadness and rage of the character felt like Brandon Lee knew this would be his final performance and he was letting some things out. He was destined for stardom and this film would’ve been the one to do that. We can only wonder what he would’ve done.
Brandon Lee (Draven) and Laurence Mason (Tin Tin) in the Crow.
So with it being October and alot of people love bringing out the horror movies, add this little movie to the mix.
Catch Mando on Twitter at @manbat33 when he’s not co-hosting the @TalentedSlacker podcast!