The original “The Crow” film is a noir and gothic supernatural thriller that was released in 1994 starring the late Brandon Lee as Eric Draven. The film is based on a comic series of the same name created by James O’Barr. While there have been several sequels following the 1994 film that follow the same premise of a crow resurrecting someone who was unrightfully killed to exact justice, none have been as successful as the 1994 version with Brandon Lee. I love the original film, and it is a comfort film of mine.
I think to understand many people’s feelings about the original and the remake, we must understand Brandon Lee’s presence and tragedy in the 1994 film. The son of Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee had a lot of athleticism and martial arts knowledge that made him ideal for action films like this. Unfortunately, at the age of only 28 he was killed during the filming of the “The Crow” by a prop shotgun. All throughout the filming of the film, many of the other people involved noted his enthusiasm for the character, the film, and notably the physicality that was required of him for the Eric Draven character. During the main final gun fight scene, a prop gun was improperly loaded and a fellow actor on the movie shot Lee, who eventually died in the hospital, unable to recover from the injury.
With scenes still to shoot, the crew was left with a difficult decision whether to finish the film or not. Ultimately, they finished and released the film with Lee’s stunt double performing his final scenes. I think one of the big reasons the 1994 film is so beloved is because it is Brandon Lee’s legacy. It was finished and released despite his death because his family and crew knew he would have wanted it to be finished because of his hard work and love for the film and story. Knowing Brandon Lee died while filming makes the film’s themes of justice and revenge, death, and love hit so much harder in my opinion.
With the new remake set to be released in June of this year, I don’t find myself excited about it for several reasons. One of them is that I believe we should leave Eric Draven as Brandon Lee’s. The other sequels all follow the same premise of someone being revived by a crow, so I don’t understand why this couldn’t have been done for this version. With Bill Skarsgård as the lead, the film will undoubtedly get sales so I don’t think this change would damage the film financially.
Secondly, the other big reason is I think the other main appeal of the original is it is 90s gothic and camp in nature. The premise itself is very 90s because that’s also when the source comics were written. The editing, the cinematography, and the plot all thrive in this setting, and I don’t think it can be replicated in our current day in a way that captures the same charm. Skargård’s rendition of the character reminds me more of an “e-boy” or even Jared Leto’s version of the Joker, which I don’t mean in a complimentary way. I probably will end up watching the remake when it comes out, but I can’t say I’m going into it without a clear bias.