The Crow (2024)
August 23, 2024 10:15 PM - Subscribe
In this modern re-imagining of the 1994 cult classic, "The Crow," soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs) are brutally murdered. Given a chance to save her, Eric must sacrifice himself and traverse the worlds of the living and the dead, seeking...
Well, you already know what he's seeking. You will have heard that this movie is a stinker. It's not. It's a low-mid supernatural action-thriller with occasional decent moments, and not nearly as incoherent as one might have expected given its tortured production history (though you can still see places where the pieces don't quite meet). Will it strike a chord with the Angsty Youth of today? I'm about thirty years too far along to answer that question.
(Note that there is a graphic scene of animal death at the beginning and in flashbacks thereafter. If you, like me, can handle seeing someone's face cut open but not a hair hurt on a companion animal's head, you will need to brace yourself or avoid. Also, somewhat worryingly, there is no AHS certification on the film and no assurance that animals weren't injured during filming.)
Well, you already know what he's seeking. You will have heard that this movie is a stinker. It's not. It's a low-mid supernatural action-thriller with occasional decent moments, and not nearly as incoherent as one might have expected given its tortured production history (though you can still see places where the pieces don't quite meet). Will it strike a chord with the Angsty Youth of today? I'm about thirty years too far along to answer that question.
(Note that there is a graphic scene of animal death at the beginning and in flashbacks thereafter. If you, like me, can handle seeing someone's face cut open but not a hair hurt on a companion animal's head, you will need to brace yourself or avoid. Also, somewhat worryingly, there is no AHS certification on the film and no assurance that animals weren't injured during filming.)
I've seen one excerpt from this, and it shows an attack in the lobby of an opera house, with multiple un-silenced gunshots... and the people inside are continuing to watch the opera as if the gunshots are completely inaudible inside the theater. How loud do the filmmakers think that opera is?
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:52 AM on August 24 [5 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:52 AM on August 24 [5 favorites]
I'll probably watch this on Prime eventually. The Crow is a really fascinating piece of IP to me; the original comic is beautifully drawn but not really a literary triumph, and the only thing more amazing than it siring like ten movies and a TV show (...I think?) is that none of the live action stuff is really that great, either. The original movie is the best Crow thing I've seen, but I think even that is mostly running on vibes generated by a fine central performance and a great OST.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:20 AM on August 24 [8 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:20 AM on August 24 [8 favorites]
Worst cinematography I’ve seen in years.
You have led a charmed life!
it shows an attack in the lobby of an opera house, with multiple un-silenced gunshots... and the people inside are continuing to watch the opera as if the gunshots are completely inaudible inside the theater
This is indeed 100% what happened, and it goes on for a good five minutes, too. They could've used silencers, but I guess that wouldn't have looked as cool? I was more irritated they couldn't find an appropriate piece of Orfeo et Eurydice to use, though.
...Like I said, not a good movie. Just not the world-historical dud you might expect from the reviews.
posted by praemunire at 10:54 AM on August 24 [3 favorites]
You have led a charmed life!
it shows an attack in the lobby of an opera house, with multiple un-silenced gunshots... and the people inside are continuing to watch the opera as if the gunshots are completely inaudible inside the theater
This is indeed 100% what happened, and it goes on for a good five minutes, too. They could've used silencers, but I guess that wouldn't have looked as cool? I was more irritated they couldn't find an appropriate piece of Orfeo et Eurydice to use, though.
...Like I said, not a good movie. Just not the world-historical dud you might expect from the reviews.
posted by praemunire at 10:54 AM on August 24 [3 favorites]
(...Thinking about it, if I had to choose between the other movie of the last five years that featured black animals swirling around our hero and this, and could cut out the awful horse incident, I would probably rather sit through this again than through Morbius, and I generally like vampire tropes better than revenge zombie ones.)
posted by praemunire at 10:57 AM on August 24
posted by praemunire at 10:57 AM on August 24
From the YT comments to the trailer: In the original, Eric looks like he plays guitar for Nine Inch Nails. In the reboot, Eric looks like he raps on SoundCloud
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:20 PM on August 24 [10 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:20 PM on August 24 [10 favorites]
Another reviewer compared, in appearance, Lee to a dancer-assassin and Skarsgård to a clay golem.
Skarsgård actually plays him as a sad but sort of sweet fuckup who's all nerve endings beneath a layer of trauma-stoicism. A fair number of my relatives were like this when they were teenagers/young men, and for good reason, so maybe my reading was a little more charitable than others' might be. Certainly it's not a fun type of kid for most adults to interact with/contemplate.
posted by praemunire at 5:18 PM on August 24 [1 favorite]
Skarsgård actually plays him as a sad but sort of sweet fuckup who's all nerve endings beneath a layer of trauma-stoicism. A fair number of my relatives were like this when they were teenagers/young men, and for good reason, so maybe my reading was a little more charitable than others' might be. Certainly it's not a fun type of kid for most adults to interact with/contemplate.
posted by praemunire at 5:18 PM on August 24 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ideefixe at 7:22 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]