The Crow

PLOT:

On October 30, Devil’s Night in Detroit, Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) is at the scene of a crime where Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas) has been beaten and raped, and her fiancé Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) then died on the street outside, having been stabbed, shot, and thrown out of the window. The couple were to be married the following day, on Halloween. As he leaves for the hospital with Shelly, Albrecht meets a young girl, Sarah (Rochelle Davis), who says that she is their friend, and that they take care of her. Albrecht tells her that Shelly is dying.

One year later, a crow taps on the grave stone of Eric Draven; Eric awakens and climbs out of his grave. Meanwhile, a low level street gang, headed by T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly), is setting fires in the city. Eric goes to his old apartment and finds it derelict. He has flashbacks to the murders, remembering that those responsible were T-Bird and his gang: Tin Tin (Laurence Mason), Funboy (Michael Massee) and Skank (Angel David). Eric soon discovers that any wounds he receives heal immediately. Guided by the crow, he sets out to avenge his and Shelly’s murders by killing the perpetrators.

The crow helps Eric locate Tin Tin, who is obsessed with knives. They engage in a one-on-one fight, which Eric wins by catching a knife and pinning Tin Tin to a wall with it. Eric then kills him by stabbing him in each of his vital organs in alphabetical order with his own knives. He takes his coat, leaving a large crow-shaped bloodstain on the wall of the alley. He then goes to the pawn shop where Tin Tin pawned Shelly’s engagement ring the year before. Eric forces the owner, Gideon (Jon Polito), to return the ring and blows up the shop, letting Gideon live so that he can warn the others. Gideon goes to warn Top Dollar, who kills him by stabbing him in the throat with a sword, which sinks in until the handle is touching the front of Gideon’s neck.

Eric finds Funboy high in an apartment with Sarah’s mother, Darla (Anna Levine). He teases Funboy, having the man shoot him in the hand and pretend to scream in pain for his own amusement. When it becomes apparent to Funboy that Eric cannot be killed, he becomes frightened, and Eric disarms him and shoots him in the thigh, piercing his femoral artery. After killing Funboy with an overdose of his own morphine, Eric talks to Darla, making her realize that Sarah needs her to be a good mother. He visits Albrecht, explaining who he is and why he is here. Albrecht tells him what he knows about Shelly’s death and that he watched as she suffered for thirty hours before dying. Eric touches Albrecht and receives from him the pain felt by Shelly during those hours. Sarah and her mother begin to repair their strained relationship. Sarah goes to Eric’s apartment and talks to him. She tells him that she misses him and Shelly. Eric explains that, even though they cannot be friends anymore, he still cares about her.

As T-Bird and Skank stop at a convenience store to pick up some supplies, Eric arrives and kidnaps T-Bird. Skank follows the pair and sees Eric as he ties T-Bird to the driver’s seat of a car, straps explosives to him, and lets the car drive off the ground, where it blows up in midair and falls and sinks into a harbor down below. Skank escapes the scene and goes to Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), a top level criminal who controls all the street gangs in the city. Top Dollar and his lover/half-sister Myca (Bai Ling) have become aware of Eric’s actions through various reports from witnesses. Top Dollar holds a meeting with his associates where they discuss new plans for their Devil’s Night criminal activities. Eric arrives at the meeting, looking for Skank. Top Dollar orders his men to gun down Eric, and a gun fight ensues. Top Dollar quickly escapes with Myca and Grange (Tony Todd), his right hand man, while Eric kills everyone in the room – including Skank, who is thrown out of a window.

Eric, having finished his quest, returns to his grave. Sarah goes to say goodbye to him and he gives her Shelly’s engagement ring. She is then abducted by Grange who takes her into the church where Top Dollar and Myca are waiting. Through the crow, Eric realizes what has happened and goes to rescue her. Grange shoots the crow as it flies into the church, making Eric lose his invincibility. Myca grabs the wounded crow, intending to take its mystical power. Albrecht arrives, intending to pay his respects to Eric, just after Eric is shot and wounded. Top Dollar grabs Sarah and climbs the bell tower as a fight ensues, with Grange being killed. The crow escapes Myca’s grip and claws her eyes out, and then knocks her down the bell tower where she falls to her death. When Albrecht is wounded, Eric climbs to the roof of the church on his own. There, Top Dollar admits ultimate responsibility for what happened to Eric and Shelly. They fight, and in the end, Eric gives Top Dollar the thirty hours of pain he absorbed from Albrecht; the sensation sends Top Dollar flying off the roof of the church where he falls and becomes impaled on the horns of a gargoyle. His blood is seen to be coming out of the mouth of the gargoyle. Sarah and Albrecht go to the hospital, and Eric is reunited with Shelley at their graves.

REVIEW:

I’ll be the first to say it, The Crow look alot like Sting (the wrestler). Go ahead, do a search, you’ll see what I mean. While you’re looking, the actor that plays Tin Tin resembles Booker T (another wrestler). Just an interesting observation on my part.

This film has garnered cult status over the years, and with good reason. It is a dark, action film that isn’t depressing, but rather entertaining.

Brandon Lee has become a tragic hero. Many have thought he is a real life Crow, although he hasn’t come back to life, as far as I know. Watching his performance, though, I have to wonder if he is a bit overrated because he dies. It just seems like he took acting lessons from the same place that the actors in Sci-Fi channel films do. That’s not to say he totally sucks, though. There are just a few scenes like that, in the rest he’s actually pretty decent.

Bai Ling’s character seemed a bit odd. On top of being Top Dollar’s half-sister/lover, she is able to tell the connection between Draven and his crow, as if she has some sort of spiritual powers. There would be nothing wrong with that, if they actually would have gone into this.

The action here is pretty good, but I would have liked for there to have been more of it, similar to the final fight scenes.

All in all this is definitely a must-see film. Granted it won’t be making any “best of “ lists, its still one of those films you can enjoy watching. On top of that, you get to enjoy the final performance of Brandon Lee, who died while making this picture.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars