One of the most unique and gritty comic-book franchises has just released its fifth movie, so join us as we rank all five The Crow movies.
5. The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)
A horrible script, that had me giggling with each new scene, and weak direction contribute to a corny experience that fails to capitalise on its interesting premise. The movie features some great concepts, including some expansion of the Crow mythos, but fails to take it in an interesting direction.
Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, American History X) does the best he can with the script, which admittedly is not much. He’s by far the least likeable Crow, with an unappealing personality and weak face paint. Dennis Hopper (Apocalypse Now) fails to do so as well, but Danny Trejo, having had experience working in bad cinema (with bangers such as Spy Kids and Machete), is in his element here. David Boreanaz too is hilarious.
4. The Crow: City of Angels (1996)
A painful rehash of the original movie with a slightly different story. The issue here is that you don’t feel the weight behind The Crow’s (Vincent Perez) loss, thus devoiding the whole point of the concept.
That being said, any movie with a Deftones cameo can’t be entirely terrible, and the film has some good action, and a unique look, feeling more grimy with its yellow-tinged colour grading. The performances aren’t all that, but cast members Iggy Pop and Thomas Jane seemed to have a good time with it.
3. The Crow: Salvation (2000)
The Crow: Salvation almost reaches greatness, but is thwarted by a convoluted and stupidly hilarious third act. Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) is the third Crow and he is quite charismatic in the role, especially when sharing scenes with Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man, Civil War).
Also starring in the film is the great William Atherton (Ghostbusters), Walton Goggins (Fallout), and Fred Ward (Escape From Alcatraz), who round out a great cast. They all contribute to a pretty enjoyable time, even if not especially good.
2. The Crow (2024)
Similar to Salvation, this movie also nearly reaches greatness. It takes some liberties with the plot and mythos of the original Crow film but ultimately is a remake of that. Bill Skarsgård plays Draven here, we don’t really learn anything about his character other than that he had a horse when he was little, and that he is/was in rehab.
The movie’s plot progression and dialogue is all barebones, but I do believe it’s not trying to be anything other than a gorey action flick, which it does succeed in doing. Some badass kills will make any true action fan grin. That being said, there are plenty of bad elements that bring it down, which Jack so graciously described in his review here.
1. The Crow (1994)
The movie that started it all is one of the definitive comic book adaptations. And an infamous one at that, with star Brandon Lee being killed while shooting the film, tragically passing at age 28.
The movie is inky black, raw with emotion and has a stunning score as well as a fantastic cast. It’s hard not to love this film, considering its cultural impact as well as its rough exterior, with great messaging.
The Crow has many fans and many haters, and I can definitely see why so many share either opinion. From its grungy exterior to its corny interior, each Crow film manages to set itself apart with different actors, different styles and sometimes even different lore. There’s something for every action fan to enjoy here.
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