Dark, poetic, sad, angry, and entertaining all wrapped in one. Proyas best as far as I'm concerned.

In the city of Detroit on the eve of Halloween a couple is brutally attacked. Shelley Webster (Sofia Shinas) is beaten and raped by a gang, and her soon to be husband Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) is jumped and killed by them. One year later, Draven rises from the dead due to some-type of mystical or even supernatural occurrence. He embarks on a mission of justice and vengeance. -summary

It's kind of funny when I think about it. Director Alex Proyas is responsible for one of my favorite movies of all time being the 1994 film The Crow, it could probably make it into my top 10, and at the same time, he's responsible for one of my most hated movies to ever touch film, Dark City. When watching The Crow I often wonder where that brilliance went. Alex Proyas's Crow is based on the 1989 comic of the same name written by James O' Barr.  I don't remember how well it follows the comic, so I guess a re-read should be in the near future. Still, Proyas manages to put together a work of art; creating an eerie, dark, yet beautiful world, and the characters to go along with the haunting atomsphere.

This is one very stylish film that heavily boasts a Gothic backdrop that reminds me of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman but times three. The visuals are amazing and this crime laden city of sin has the characters who fit in like a custom made glove. The city seems to come to life and it appears to be a character itself, and at times, it feels as if it could be screaming for an avenger to come forth and right the wrongs of all the evil-doers. The use of lighting and camera work is amazingly well done, with some very nice set pieces. Proyas very well utilizes the show but don't tell rule, by using long site seeing segments to tell the story of both the city and the civilians pain. He also meshes this with his very well use of the music, which switches between some well orchestrated pieces, and violent rock and roll lyrics. Numerous times it appears as if the music as well as the drugs is the people's only avenue of escape.

The plot is pretty straight forward, as it's nothing more than a revenge story, which follows Eric Draven as he hunts down the four man crew who killed him and his fiance. He leaves behind a trail of death, during his rampage he manages to anger the kingpin of the city.

Although the story and plot appear to be simple, it's still an intricate and gripping tale, that well uses many themes in combination with a vast amount of character development for both heroes and villains; in addition to a horde of memorable scenes. One of the best aspects of the film is how it doesn't seem to focus on some-type of a cerebral effect, due to the frequent action scenes. There are some really good action filled moments of hand to hand, gun-play, and other weapon use. The special effects really aren't over the top, however, what's present results in some truly amazing stuff, and at times, feels like an overly amped up music video. The death scenes can be pretty brutal, even disturbing I would say, however the gore factor is rather tame.

Brandon Lee was convincing in his role, and his mellow demeanor was very well written for the character. He never really screamed his lines, and this was a great move by Proyas to showcase the "silent but deadly" adage. His pain on his loss and dealing with what he has become can truly be felt in several segments. The rest of the cast did their role as well, and another stand out was Michael Wincott as Top Dollar. He personified that man who lived for the sake of chaos and didn't really come off as a stock bad guy. If I have any issues with the film, then it would be the build up to the final act, which seemed way too typical and in some ways, kind of lazily put together. Thankfully the strong ending makes up for the small things that bothered me.

After recently re-watching The Crow, I now have this feeling to re-read the original source material, as well as re-watch some older Brandon Lee films. He was indeed a serious loss. I won't say action movies haven't been the same, but they could have been a lot better had his life not been cut short by such a ridiculous freak accident. In any case, if you're an action fan and never seen this film, then I highly recommend this for your collection. The film clocks in at 102 minutes.


 Pros:
-Visuals, Action, Great acting

Cons:
-Some weak plot elements towards the very end