The Crow (2024), directed by Rupert Sanders, stars Bill Skarsgard, FKA twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Karel Dobry, Jordan Bolger, Sebastian Orozco, David Bowles, and Trigga. After The Crow (1994), this is the second film adaptation of the comic series written by James O’Barr. The story follows Eric (Skarsgard) and Shelly (twigs), two kindhearted criminals who meet in prison and fall in love. After escaping, the two are eventually hunted down and murdered by a ruthless gang led by Vincent Roeg (Huston) – a violent criminal with otherworldly powers. Soon after, Eric is resurrected by a mysterious force that offers him to take revenge on those who destroyed his life and possibly save Shelly’s life in the process.

Although Skarsgard’s performance as Eric Draven isn’t particularly horrible, it’s a little dull and lifeless. This is especially so when one considers the unique and energetic performance that Brandon Lee originally brought to the role. When one thinks of Lee, this remake almost feels a bit insulting to his legacy – like it’s a studio IP cash grab in the worst sense – cheap, forgettable, and lifeless. As for the character of Shelly, she gets a bit more to do here than in the original film. On top of this, FKA twigs hits the appropriate emotional notes; it’s just a shame that she can’t seem to find any chemistry with Skarsgard. I think this is because the two characters often make immature and unintelligent choices that cause them to come off as unlikeable. Even Danny Huston fails to provide the film with a memorable villain, often falling back to the kind of performance we’ve seen him give a thousand times. 

Along with the characters being generally stupid, the script is pretty much a cesspool of “what the f*ck?” moments. For example, you may have noticed that in the plot description, I mentioned that the male and female leads meet in prison. Yeah, most people with a brain can call bullshit on the idea of a co-ed prison almost immediately. 

It’s also just poorly paced in the sense that the focus is consistently unbalanced. It often chooses to focus on the noticeably boring aspects of this premise as opposed to its naturally more entertaining elements. By the time the film finally focuses on something cool, it just makes the viewer wonder why it took so long to get there in the first place.

The visual style, something that is the original film’s strongest element, is nowhere to be found in this remake. The CGI is overused and cheap-looking while the general color scheme is just grey and lifeless. The 1994 film proves that a film can have a depressing and dark tone without feeling lifeless or boring; a lesson that this film seems oblivious to. 

Overall, this is a forgettable and quite frankly infuriating remake that only insults the legacy of the original film and the tragedy that occurred to its lead during production. That being said, it’s not a completely torturous experience. It flies by fast enough, and the action in the final third is entertaining enough to provide a few smiles. Other than that, it’s a forgettable experience that is yet another addition to the pantheon of half-assed remakes of movies that never should have been remade in the first place. C-