The Crow

Based on a comic book, The Crow follows murdered musician Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) as he comes back to life and embarks on a campaign of revenge against the men responsible for his and his girlfriend’s deaths. Filmmaker Alex Proyas, armed with David J. Schow and John Shirley’s screenplay, delivers a highly-stylized actioner that remains quite watchable even through a narrative that’s rarely as enthralling or riveting as one might’ve hoped, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that The Crow‘s success is due almost entirely to Lee’s commanding and perpetually hypnotic turn as the tortured central character – with the actor’s frequently electrifying efforts going a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s periodic bumps and lulls. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the movie boasts periphery work from a murderers’ row of familiar faces, including Ernie Hudson, David Patrick Kelly, Michael Massee, and Michael Wincott.) The agreeable vibe is additionally heightened by a continuing emphasis on standout scenes and sequences (eg Eric harasses a pawn-shop proprietor), while the satisfying final stretch ensures that the whole thing concludes on a positive, memorable note – which does, in the final analysis, cement The Crow‘s place as an admittedly erratic endeavor that features (and benefits from) Lee’s very best performance.

*** out of ****