THE CROW
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston, and Sami Bouajila
Director: Rupert Sanders
AMARÚ
Throughout The Crow, Bill Skarsgård adds “fuck” to more sentences than Samuel L. Jackson in an attempt to emphasize how tragic his and FKA twigs’ characters’ lives are, but serving us their pain on a silver platter just leaves the film feeling tonally unearned. Skarsgård and twigs’ angst-filled trauma-bonding gives them great chemistry, but is too heavy-handed to create connection to their struggles. Yet somehow, while preparing for an overly disquieting inciting event to create the titular mantle, it came and went without me realizing it, leaving me befuddled at the jumbled pacing, tone, and writing. Honestly, this one could’ve stayed in development hell.
ADRIANO
The Crow is one awesome gore-fest action sequence away from utter disaster. The ultra-focus on the central romance is weak, and despite Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs' decent chemistry, the film gave me no reason to actually feel for this crucial love story. I probably wouldn't have cared had it not taken a full hour of the film's 110-minute runtime. On top of that, the revenge storyline is half-assed, unengaging, and rushed beyond words. While the sequence I mentioned earlier is fun, the rest of the gore in the film is nothing more than a crutch. Overall, just yikes.
PRESTON
I never read the original graphic novel or watched the cult-classic film adaptation from 1994, so I am unfamiliar with how their stories go. I’m assuming, given their popularity, that they don’t use one of the most ridiculous premises to a storyline I’ve ever seen, one that had me justifiably skeptical from the jump. Worse still is that Bill Skarsgård’s (Eric) performance is too reminiscent of the annoyingly, whiny portrayal of Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. There is a single sequence that feels rewarding, but otherwise, the pain of the titular character is felt through the slog.
KATIE
After the pessimistic reviews, I was apprehensive about The Crow. However, I really enjoyed it, even if it's far from perfect. The dark visuals are sometimes unclear, the story is thin, and FKA twigs’ performance is uneven despite her and Bill Skarsgård having strong chemistry and a fun, toxic couple vibe. The film takes an unashamedly sincere approach to the edgy romance, which makes it feel like it belongs in the mid-2010s, further emphasised by the gothy neo-noir aesthetic. The violence is excessive and intense, and there is a particular sequence that is impressively brutal. I can see teens making shrines about this film in the years to come.
