The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

Movie Info

I sing the body electric!
I celebrate the me and to come
I toast to my own reunion!

Ashe Corven (Vincent Perez) and his son Danny (Eric Acosta) see something they shouldn’t see and pay the price.  Now, Ashe has been reborn as the Crow and is out for blood for the people who caused his child’s death.  Watched over by Sarah (Mia Kirshner) who has seen this happen before, Ashe is becoming a target of Judah Earl (Richard Brooks) and his gang…and vengeance must be served!

Directed by Tim Pope, The Crow:  City of Angels is a comic book action movie.  Following The Crow in 1994, the film was released to a weak box-office and poor reviews.  The film was heavily edited and cut down before its release.

I enjoyed The Crow, but much of the film’s power came from the tragic death of Brandon Lee and the visuals provided by Alex Proyas.  With a new Crow, a new location, and the same attempts for hip, cool visuals, The Crow:  City of Angels provides nothing new and is a tedious rehash.

I’m hear to do the same stuff the previous guy did…

For a majority of the movie the Crow is relatively invincible.  No one seems to realize that the giant crow that travels with him could be the source of his power.  Once the source is revealed, the movie tries to do something original which doesn’t work.  Judah gains the power of the Crow and it ends in a weird (and dull) supernatural fight between Ashe and Judah.  It isn’t very interesting or compelling, but thankfully, it is short.

I don’t know that Vincent Perez is an awful Crow, but he just seems to be playing as close to Lee’s enigmatic character in the first one.  The film has a returning character in Sarah played by Mia Kirshner who was previously played by Rochelle Davis in the original film…but her character is treated pretty poorly.  The gang members aren’t as fun as the previous gang members with Richard Brooks as the lead, but it is at least fun to have Iggy Pop as Curve and Thomas Jane gets in on the action as Nemo.

He had a lust for life…

The film is visually comparable to the first film, but it feels like the different setting of Los Angeles could be used better since Detroit felt like a real setting for the first film.  With a less inspiring story and cast, the film feels mopey and less dynamic that Proyas’ vision.

The Crow:  City of Angels is a ho-hum movie.  It just feels like a largely soulless, dull action film that attempted a cash grab on the original (which backfired)…perhaps the unedited film expanded upon the weak portions of the script.  You should probably just stick to the original though it hasn’t aged as well as some films.  The Crow:  City of Angels was followed by The Crow:  Salvation in 2000 (which was originally intended for theatrical release before this film’s bombing).

Related Links:

The Crow (1994)