Stealth Entertainment
The Crow
By Scott Lumley
June 4, 2009
Of all the actors, Brandon really stood out as Draven. He wasn't as polished as some of the other performers, but he completely immersed himself into the role of vengeful wraith like few people ever could. The director of the film noted in an interview before Lee's death that he had to admonish Lee for taking risks he shouldn't have taken as he was trying to get a feel for his character. At one point he apparently immersed himself into a tub of ice just so he could understand how it felt to claw his way up from the cold earth. When he was onscreen, he was raw and angry, and his performance took this film and turned it away from what could have been just another kung fu film into a story about grief and vengeance.
The rest of the cast did their best to support Lee or get out of his way, and to their credit they do just that. Ernie Hudson has a few conversations with Lee that would sound ridiculous in just about any other format, but in this film they really, really work.
The producers of the Crow handled the death of Lee as carefully as they could. Lee had not finished filming all his scenes yet so they used digital effects to superimpose his face onto body doubles and finished off the action sequences. Careful editing protected the rest of his work, and what normally would have been a large insurance check became a successful film that generated an astounding cult following.
Since the Crow was released there have been a number of sequels and even a TV series that have followed. They have all been universally horrible. Nothing has even come close to catching the magic that was initially created. Lately there has been talk of remaking the Crow to "reboot" the franchise, a thought that makes me shudder. The Crow doesn't need to be remade. We don't need another Erik Draven. We already had one, and he was perfect.
If Hollywood does decide to reboot the series, fine. There's little I can do to stop that. I just hope they realize what made the first film special, and that it may not be possible to replicate. I'll be the first in line for a new Crow film, provided they can give it the respect, script and production it deserves. It certainly hasn't gotten that lately.
The Crow is available on DVD just about everywhere, and it usually doesn't cost very much. If it's not in your own personal collection, I only have one question for you.
Why?
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