The Crow 3 - Salvation

I love "The Crow," and there's not much in my mind that could be done in a sequel to top it. "Salvation," unlike "City of Angels," doesn't try to top the first one, or rip it off... The characters are solid, the performances are great, and the action is non-stop. But what singles this movie out is the story. It's a good story, not just another "Crow" movie. The direction of the film reminds me of the first, very dark, yet crisp (not gritty like the 2nd), and the trick camera angles mixed with the impressive special effects keep the supernatural elements alive as the very human story rolls along.

I work at a video store, and I see all kinds of movies that bypass theatres and come direct to video, and usually there's something about them that tells you why, even the good ones. This had the look and feel of something that, if released at the appropriate time, would have done well in the theatres. It wouldn't have been a smash hit, and it certainty wouldn't bring in as many people as the original did, but it deserves much better than this.

If you're fans of the franchise, I highly recommend that you see this. If you like the first one, but that's it, then expand your horizons a little and try to see this for what it is, and not what you thought it would be. It's a sequel to a GREAT movie, and it ends up being a pretty good movie on it's own...

"The Crow: Salvation," the fourth installment in the popular series of murdered men brought back from the dead to avenge their deaths, is certainly a step in the right direction after the travesty of previous entries. The first Crow, which is best known for being the film in which Brandon Lee was killed (duh), is a cult classic directed by Alex "Dark City" Proyas, and even today, it is regarded as probably the greatest of the gothic/action/modern noir films. It's sequel, "The Crow: City of Angels," starred Vincent Perez, and while it featured some nice ideas and beautiful images, it was nothing more but a poor remake of the first film lacking all the heart of the original. "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven" came next, and it was two episodes of the TV show of the same name re-edited into a motion picture and released as a sequel to the first film. Instead of being a remake in disguise as a sequel like "City of Angels," "Stairway" goes ahead and just literally remakes the first film with the same characters, basically the same plotline, and none of the magic (though Mark Ducascos as the title character certainly demonstrates a type of charisma in his martial arts).

Now comes "The Crow: Salvation." Eric Mabius stars as Alex Corvez, who is wrongly executed for the murder of his girlfriend and returns from the dead to take out the real killers, with the help of his dead girlfriend's sister and a lawyer friend. As a sequel, it thankfully works because it has a premise completely different from the first film (something the other sequels failed to pull off) and it stands on its own, introducing its own magic and its own intruiging plot elements. It certainly is a good film and a good sequel, and while some points in the movie seem contrived, what film nowadays doesn't have at least a few obvious plot points?

The bad: Much of the film is underdeveloped, especially many characters. While the plotline is good, it seems rushed much of the time, and the viewer has to draw their own conclusions about many things. Some of the dialogue is also atrocious.

The good: Well well, there's much more of that. Eric Mabius as the central character shines throughtout. For the first time, we have a character in one of these movies *not* ripping off Brandon Lee, but instead, bringing his own qualities and characterizations to the character. The results are an effective performance that makes us forget about Lee altogether...at least until the film comes to a close. The plot, something of a murder mystery, would have made a good film even if it hadn't been a Crow film, and the images and notions presented only add to the appeal, especially with the character of the Crow itself, which at the beginning, acts as if this is just a routine thing to bring someone back to the dead, and that he's done it before. Later, however, it genuinely gets intruigued by Corvis' vendetta and begins aiding him more.

All in all, this is certainly much more acceptable that previous entries, and it succeeds where the others failed: Introducing new elements into a Crow franchise that, so far, has been nothing more but rip offs of the first film.

*** out of ****

Now let's be real, there's only one good Crow film. They were just never able to catch that midnight magic again, though they tried, with four more films and a dud of a TV series. Each of the sequels is nearly the exact same as the first, in terms of plot: a man is killed by feral urban thugs, only to be resurrected one year later by a mysterious crow, blessed with invincibility and begins to work his way through the merry band of scumbags in brutal acts of revenge, arriving at the crime lord sitting atop the food chain, usually a freak with vague ties to the supernatural or occult. All the films in the series are structured that way, but only one deviated and tried something slightly different with the formula. City of Angels, the second, is a boring, almost identical retread of the first, it's only energy coming from a coked up Iggy Pop. Wicked Prayer, the fourth, had a premise with potential aplenty, and turned out so maddeningly awful I'm still dabbing the blood from my eye sockets. Salvation, however, is the third entry and almost finds new air to breathe by altering the premise slightly. Instead of lowlife criminals, it's a posse of corrupt police detectives who frame an innocent dude (Resident Evil's Eric Mabius) for crimes they themselves committed, fry him to a crisp in the electric chair and get off scott free. His girlfriend (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) is also killed in the process. Now, not only is it cops instead of criminals, but the arch baddie at the top of the pile is the police commissioner, who has occult written all over him. *Not only* that, but he's played by Fred Ward, who is brilliant in anything. While nowhere near an iota of the atmosphere or quality of the first film, this one works better than any of the other sequels, thanks to that spark of an idea that changes the game ever so much. The detectives are a nice and skeevy bunch too, played by the reptilian likes of William Atherton, Walton Goggins and others. Ward wears the starched, proper uniform of an authoritative figure, but his eyes gleam with the same secrets and dark magic we saw in the two other previous underworld kingpins, Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) and Judah Earl (Richard Brooks), but it's that contrast that takes you off guard and makes things more intriguing. And as for Eric, does he hold his own with the others who've played the role? Mabius he does, Mabius he doesn't, you'll just have to watch and see. He definitely knocks Vincent Perez out of the park, that silly Frenchman. Real talk though, no one will ever dethrone Brandon Lee, not even whatever pisant they get for the remake that's been hovering on the fringes of preproduction for the last half decade. On top of it all we also get Kirsten Dunst, of all people, as a sympathetic attorney who works alongside Mabius to clear his name, as he clears the streets of no-good crooked cops. So there you have it. If you ever find yourself meandering around the kiosks in blockbuster, and see the Crow films lined up on the shelves like emo ducks in a row, the first film will naturally already be rented out. Where then to turn? You can certainly do worse than this one.

The Crow was a great film. COA was a good film. Salvation lies somewhere in between them.

The acting, though crapped on by the majority, was pretty good. Eric Mabius played a good crow, who seemed to enjoy his powers a bit and had some witty superhero-esque lines. Kirsten Dunst was nowhere near as bad as others have said she was. Actually she was damn good. Fred Ward was a GREAT bad guy, rivaling Michael Wincott from the first film. The supporting cast all filled their roles well.

Some people complain about the dialouge being terrble. Not really. Some of it was good, some of it was simply plain. One scene that stood out as absolutely terrible is the scene where Corvus persuades Erin Randell to keep her sister's necklace. I can think of ten different ways that scene could have been written better with dialogue that was not CHEESY.

There is plenty of good stuff in this film. We have a GREAT execution scene in the beginning, plenty of action,a hero you could feel sorry for, some good drama, and, yes, for all you perverts, this does have the T&A that is typical of a crow film.

If you're a fan of the franchise and not looking for anything new to be added, then you'll like this. If you didn't like the first one or are expecting something completely originally, then you should skip. I'd rank this film a 9

Brandon Lee rest in peace, as for The Crow Salvation, well I'll just say that it keeps James O'Barr's ideas and spirits alive with the Crow series. You'd have to read the comics to understand what the Crow is really about. It's not just one person but the Crow itself, it's the idea that if something terrible enough happens a spirit can come back and revenge its death. The Crow then becomes a guide and shows the spirit the way to it's enemies. Salvation takes the heart of the crow and makes it its own. You can relate to each character and are surprised as to whats going to happen next. The story never leaves you questioning what just happened. You are with Alex every step of the way. You understand his love and caring for Lauren and want to see his revenge succeed. The more bloody shots are necessary and never too much. Each situation is explained and necessary to continue the story line. If you didn't cry at the end you either went into the movie thinking it was going to suck or you didn't understand the purpose or reason of the crow. For the most part you held back tears of happiness for a love that was truly meant to last.

I recommend this movie to any Crow fans and also to those who are looking for action as well as a meaningful plot with a love story all together in one eventful movie. Try it, and let me know what you think.