The Crow (2024)

“Some Ghosts Should’ve Stayed Buried” 🪦🖤


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Let’s Start by Showing Y’all the Trailers, Shall We? 🎬

The Curse of Development Hell 🕰️⚒️

Before a single frame was shot, this Crow remake was already haunted. Hollywood had been trying to remake or reboot The Crow for over a decade, and every attempt fell into a black hole. Directors dropped out, scripts were abandoned, and actors walked away. Jason Momoa was once attached to play Eric Draven, and even he bailed after the studio drama got too messy.

Why the hesitation? Two big reasons:

1. The Legacy of Brandon Lee’s Death: Studios feared backlash. Any new version risked being seen as exploitative, trying to capitalize on a tragedy that made the original infamous.


2. The “Cursed” Reputation of the Franchise: Every sequel had bombed. Critics hated them, fans ignored them. Investors didn’t want to bankroll another guaranteed flop.



By the time Bill Skarsgård finally signed on, the project had been passed around so many times that it was stitched together from leftover drafts, rewrites, and “safe” studio decisions. That’s why this version feels like it has no real identity — it’s less a bold vision, more a patchwork quilt of ideas nobody truly believed in until a greenlight was forced through.

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview 🌑

This remake reimagines Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) as doomed lovers caught in a violent world of crime and betrayal. After their brutal deaths, Eric rises again under the crow’s supernatural guidance, seeking vengeance on those responsible. The bones of the 1994 film are there, but this modern version tries to repackage it for today’s audiences — complete with sleeker visuals, slower pacing, and a darker romance angle.

Why The Crow Sequels and Remakes Always Fail 🎬💀

This remake is just the latest casualty in the long, cursed legacy of The Crow. After the 1994 film:

The Crow: City of Angels (1996): Rushed, butchered by the studio, and soulless compared to the original.

The Crow: Salvation (2000): Tried to reboot with a courtroom spin, but fell into direct-to-video mediocrity.

The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005): An unholy mess starring Edward Furlong and David Boreanaz. Critics and fans alike despised it.

The Crow (2024): Despite more money, better cameras, and a big-name lead, it still fails — proving you can’t recreate lightning in a bottle.


The reason? The original wasn’t just a movie. It was tragedy wrapped in art. Brandon Lee’s death and James O’Barr’s grief gave it an authenticity that no sequel or remake can replicate. Every attempt since has been missing the heart, the pain, and the sincerity.

The Crow should’ve stayed as what it already was: a cursed, singular masterpiece.


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Character Rundown 🎭

Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård): Skarsgård gives it his all, but the role doesn’t fit him. He’s eerie and captivating, but Eric here feels more brooding vampire than tragic anti-hero.

Shelly Webster (FKA twigs): Expanded compared to the original, she shares flashbacks and stylized dreamscapes with Eric. It should work, but instead feels hollow.

Villains: Instead of a colorful gang or a crime boss like Top Dollar, the antagonists are watered down — generic crime figures with none of the menace or memorability.

Side note, the villains in this film are some of the most blandest villians ive ever had the displeasure to see on screen.

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Pacing / Episode Flow ⏱️

The film drags. Where the original balanced atmosphere with sudden bursts of violence, this one plods through a style-over-substance rhythm. It’s glossy but soulless, and the final act feels like it was assembled out of leftover ideas from other, better revenge movies.


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Pros ✅

Bill Skarsgård’s natural screen presence. Even if he’s miscast, he’s watchable.

The stylized cinematography tries to lean into modern gothic visuals.

A few moments with Shelly add more romantic melancholy than the original dared.



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Cons ❌

Miscasting: Skarsgård is talented, but he’s not Eric Draven. His energy feels wrong for the role.

The villains are utterly forgettable, robbing Eric’s vengeance of weight.

Glossy visuals neuter the grit and grime that made the 1994 version iconic.

Bloated pacing turns what should be raw and visceral into dull melodrama.

The film misunderstands the heart of The Crow — it’s not just about vengeance, it’s about grief transcending death.



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Final Thoughts 🕯️

This remake never justifies its existence. Instead of honoring the cursed, tragic DNA of the original, it feels like a hollow studio attempt to cash in on nostalgia. Brandon Lee’s Eric felt human, tragic, and mythic. Skarsgård’s Eric, through no fault of the actor, comes off like a gothic fashion ad. There’s no bite, no rage, no weight.


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Rating ⭐

2/10


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Spoiler Warning ⚠️

From here on out, spoilers ahead.


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Spoilers 🩸

The new film stretches Eric and Shelly’s relationship into stylized flashbacks and dream sequences, but instead of deepening their bond, it makes the narrative stall. When Eric begins his vengeance spree, the kills lack personality — he dispatches bad guys without the operatic flair of the original. No burning crow symbols, no iconic one-liners. Just… revenge-by-numbers.

The finale is where the film completely falls apart. Instead of an operatic, rain-soaked cathedral showdown, Eric ends up in a bizarre, almost abstract confrontation. The editing makes the climax confusing and disjointed, with Eric presented less as a tragic revenant and more as a supernatural superhero. Any intimacy or gothic weight vanishes under the spectacle.

And that’s where the biggest failure lies: the film treats Eric like a modern comic-book anti-hero, not a ghostly figure caught between love and vengeance. By the time credits roll, the story feels generic — like something that could’ve been slapped onto John Wick or Underworld.