The Crow: City of Angels

Directed by Tim Pope, The Crow: City of Angels follows Vincent Perez’s Ashe Corven as he embarks on an undead campaign of revenge after he and his young son are murdered. It’s a familiar narrative that’s employed to watchable yet hopelessly forgettable effect by Pope, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by David S. Goyer, delivers a derivative retread of Alex Proyas’ superior The Crow that contains little in the way of originality or innovation – with Jean-Yves Escoffier’s gritty visuals and Kristen Pratt’s heightened-reality set design certainly echoing back to the first movie. And while Perez offers up a lackluster performance that remains underwhelming from start to finish, The Crow: City of Angels never quite becomes the all-out disaster one might’ve rightfully anticipated – with the vengeance-fuelled storyline and raft of fun supporting performances enhancing the movie’s decent-enough atmosphere. The padded-out climactic stretch admittedly does ensure that the whole thing peters out to a fairly demonstrable extent, which ultimately proves effective at cementing The Crow: City of Angels‘ place as a passable sequel that rarely, if ever, approaches the highs of its iconic predecessor.

**1/2 out of ****