The Crow: City of Angels

The first Crow film was a brilliant and Gothic re-visioning of a graphic Novel. Eric Draven was played by Brandon Lee who notoriously died during the making of the film. But even though he died, his work as the main protagonist was very memorable and chilling, and yet sympathetic and beautiful. It would be hard to top something like his performance. This sequel to THE CROW, entitled THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS, takes place in a warped version of L.A. Death and filth litter the streets and the whole city is cast in an ugly and disturbing color of grotesque characters and dust. The lighting to this film is ugly and dark, not unlike CITY OF LOST CHILDREN or NOSFORATU, only more natural feeling. The main character of this film automatically achieves a more personal edge to why he would murder thugs because instead of his girlfriend being raped and murdered like in the first one, this time it is his son. So the loss of an innocent soul feels more justified by murder of the people who did it. Ashe is pulled out from a watery grave as a walking corpse sent to avenge his son. Unfortunitely there is indeed more to this than what seemed possible because the drug lord Judah has a connection to voodoo powers that could possibly disarm Ashe in his fight to avenge his own flesh and blood. Judah has connections to other worldly forces via a blind woman who he has used to gain power of the city. This film employs negative energy very well and the films setting feels lifeless. This way, the film allows us to feel more sorry for the people who live in it by giving us no limits of which the depravity can go. The musical score, while it is true it is not as effective as the first one, casts just the right amount of a somber spirit and hopelessness. This film is excessively gross and violent but doesn't become a distraction since the whole city is full of gross and violent tone. Fans of the Crow hated this film and I can see why. But I felt that this film's lifelessness worked well due to the constant feeling of depression and hate. Vincent Perez plays Ashe with the perfect amount of sympathy and the viewer can feel sorry for him. However, we cannot be scared of him because all of the barely human characters that surround him and much more frightening. When he kills his prey, we are delighted and happy that he got his revenge. The first film was a good combination of extremely violent content and gore mixed with morals and feeling. Nobody in this film has much emotion and feeling except for Ashe, who truly has more than enough. He is shown as a victim and continues to be a victim throughout because the city is so full of them. He cannot gain anything and he is understandably sad. When it comes right down to it, its hard to really compare the two films because the first film is so perfect and so beautiful and the second film, when compared to the first, feels so flawed and ugly. It is really all up to the viewer to decide. I thought this sequel was great and would gladly watch it again. I'd say anyone interested in the set design process of film making should definitely watch this along with the first film.

This movie I saw pretty close to when I watched the original I believe right after college. I didn't think it was all that great and wasn't thrilled to give this a rewatch. I didn't remember much from it, but I will say there are some pretty solid names in it that I noticed when the credits were rolling. The synopsis here is the spirit of the Crow resurrects another man seeking revenge for the murder of his son.

We start this off with getting an off-color look at what happens to Ashe Corven (Vincent Perez) and his son Danny (Eric Acosta). They're murdered by a group of criminals and then thrown off the pier. Sarah (Mia Kirshner) was having the nightmare of what happened to the two. She's a painter and she's working on one of a man with many faceless people behind him, crouched and holding the body of a woman. Sarah is also a tattoo artist along with Noah (Ian Dury). Sarah also has an interaction with a homeless girl, Grace (Beverly Mitchell), who she offers to get food and coffee for. It should be pointed out that Sarah is the little girl from the original film all grown up.

The criminals that we saw earlier all work for Judah Earl (Richard Brooks). He's having a meeting of his best members where they kill one for not producing like they should. He tries to claim it was a bad batch of drugs and to prove this, they test it on that man. It kills him so they learn he was right. The others though are Curve (Iggy Pop), Nemo (Thomas Jane), Kali (Thuy Trang) and Spider Monkey (Vincent Castellanos). Judah also has a blind woman Sybil (Tracey Ellis) who is an oracle. She tells him prophecies to help keep him alive.

Sarah is brought to the pier where Ashe was killed and he wakes up in the water. She brings him back to her place to help him and informs him that the Crow has returned him to life to seek revenge for what happened to him. She paints his face similar to that of Eric from the original, which is similar to the theater masks from the past. Ashe first seeks out Spider Monkey to learn all those that were involved with what happened to him. Judah is alerted to this though through Sybil and tries to find a way to stop this avenging spirit.

I want to lead this part of here stating that I really like the original film. I didn't actually see it until after college and probably right before I saw this film for the first time. I could tell that there was a pretty noticeable step down even back then. Now watching this with a critical eye, I still feel similar, but I'll start with what I liked here first though.

The first thing is that I like continuing on with the mythology of The Crow. This film doesn't really introduce anything new though. The only difference here is that Ashe and his son were murdered instead of a man with his fiancé. I like that it is establishing that it can extend its powers to others in a similar situations. This is also interesting that Sarah is the same character from the first film, so it is good to have her as the bridge for continuity. Going along with the powers of this character, at the end we do see our character briefly losing them, which this being a semi-super hero/comic book film, you should probably know something like that will happen. Here though, we do see our villain becoming stronger and I like that they play with this to be a bit different. Having Sybil to relay the supernatural is something that works so we can get how this movie plays out.

Something that is both a positive and negative for me is where this movie takes place. With the name, I could tell that this is supposed to be Los Angeles. I did read that the look of the city is a hybrid of LA from the 1920s and 1940s. This gives it an odd feel which did work for me. The feel is also like we're seeing a legend play out. We have modern things like guns, but we have a supernatural force bringing back a man who's been killed and seeking revenge. The villains are listening to an oracle and I got a vibe of seeing like a Jason and the Argonauts in modern times. I also think that the feel of the city is also not realistic. It is the Wild West with no police being in the movie. The villains are running the city so it does give like we're seeing a Western town from that era where an unlikely hero needs to show up to clean it for the residents to finally live without fear. It does take some believability away for me though.

Going along these lines, it does have a lot of elements that I would expect me to really enjoy. I have laid out the things above, but regardless I found it to be boring. I never really connected with Ashe and for whatever reason it never held my attention. I think in part of that is The Crow version of him is just too powerful. By the time he becomes vulnerable, I'm already checked out. I also don't think that it does the best in building the characters up. The ending is fine, but nothing to really get me excited either. I just found this to be boring overall.

This is also quite shocking as we have some really good actors here. Pop is someone that just really plays himself and I like what he does with the role of Curve. Plus is fun to see Jane as Nemo who is a pervert. He isn't given a lot to work with and I thought Pop was just fine. Perez just doesn't pull me in like Brandon Lee did in the first movie. He plays the role okay with the physicality, but The Crow is such a tragic character and I didn't feel it. Kirshner is cute, but she feels underutilized as well. Brooks doesn't feel fleshed out enough to be this evil villain he's supposed to be. We get a bit, but it's a forgettable performance. Castellanos and Trang are all fine as well as Ellis, but no one really stands out.

That will take me to effects of this movie. We get some practical effects and we get some CGI as well. The practical effects are fine. No issues there. We do get some really good establishing shots to give us a feel of this city that we're living in and it really is comic book like. That takes away the realism where I feel there's only like 50 people living in this world that we're in. I think grounding this slightly would have helped. There is some really bad CGI in this movie as well, especially things that we get with the actual birds in the movie.

The last thing would be the soundtrack. It is hard for me to come down too hard. This is a 90's film, with a soundtrack that feels like the era. It just didn't really add a lot for me and I almost wonder if that is where a good portion of the budget went to. Too many of the songs are playing in the background with the words and it was distracting too be honest to following the dialogue of the movie for sure.

Now with that said, I don't mind what this movie is trying to do, but it fell short in my opinion. I like showing us that The Crow can give its powers to someone else who has been wrong and this film follows a similar formula to the first one. I don't mind the comic book feel mixed the Old West town, but it doesn't feel grounded and I think we need that. I was bored for the most part. Most of the acting performances are fine, but underutilized or uninspired. The effects are hit or miss and the soundtrack fits for what they needed, but was a bit distracting for me. I found this to be below average for sure and would avoid unless you absolutely love this series.

4.5/10

The Crow: City of Angels is the sequel to the amazing 1994 film "The Crow." While in some ways it tries too hard to be like the first, the film also succeeds in other areas, such as emotion and style. While not as good as it could have been, it is still pretty enjoyable.

Story: The film begins in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, with a grown up Sarah, who as you may recall, is the little girl from the original. She has visions of another man rising up. In comes Ashe, a single father raising a son, Danny. Ashe and Danny accidentally witness a gang attack, and therefore, are attacked and killed themselves. Guess what happens? Ashe returns from the grave to seek vengeance. One by one, Ashe hunts down those responsible for his murder, which eventually leads him to Judah, a drug kingpin and crime lord of the city. The story really focuses on Ashe's pain of losing his sun, and there are some really powerful and emotional moments in the film.

Directing: Tim Pope is an acclaimed music video director, and his knack for music videos really shines in this film. While he sets and certain mood and doesn't let it up, the movie really jumbles around in terms of style. It's like watching one huge rock video, and at time, it can be a little hard on the eyes. Most scenes were staged quite well, and other than the style, Pope did an adequate job.

Acting: Vincent Perez(Ashe) did an excellent job with his part. He had a lot to contend with, such as filling Brandon Lee's shoes. Regardless, he shined, and in his scenes of pain and grief, I really felt for him. Bravo. Mia Kirshner(Sarah) did great with what she had. I felt that the character was wasted in the film, but she did fine. Richard Brooks(Judah) played the sadistic drug-lord quite effectively, although I never really had an opinion of the character either way. That could be the fault of Brooks, the director, or the writer. I'm not sure which. Iggy Pop(Curve) overacted beyond belief, and I was quite amused.

Score: Once again Graeme Revelle proved himself an excellent composer. His music helps the mood incredibly. I only wish more of his music was in the film, and less of the hard rock.

Violence: While it is felt and implied everywhere, there really isn't tons of on screen violence, and when it was there, it wasn't overly bloody, though it had quite a brutal feel to it. The violence was in your face, and not overly entertaining or exciting like in the first film.

Profanity/Sexual Themes: Strong language throughout. The f-bomb is used all through the film. There is also a lot of S&M in the film, as well as female nudity.

Substance Abuse: The film is about a drug-lord, so, there is quite a bit of drug use in the film. Almost all the villain characters snort the coke-like drug, Trinity.

Overall: The Crow: City of Angels was a decent sequel, and really excelled in some ares, although it failed in others. If you're a fan of the first, it's worth a look. I really dug the fact that the movie was mostly about the pain of losing a loved one. It's a pretty stylish adventure. 7/10

It's true that all of the characters in this movie are fairly typical action movie type characters. Judah, the occultish, sadistic leader of the future underworld, Ash and his Son, the perfect family, etc. And yes, the film is Archetypal, a story that has been told and will be told again. This being said I think the script has a basic appeal and the visual aspect of this movie is stunning. Both the violence and the landscape are very stylish. Whether Ash is dropping one of the murderers out a building, onto a car, or in pursuit on a motorcycle and looking overhead, the films maintains a visual richness not found most films, and hardly ever found in most action features I'd give this film a 7.

As far l could read some comments from IMDB's users reviewers, the Crow's sequel they love or hate, l'll stay in the middle 7 out 10 is suitable enough according what l did watch last week, the director had a satisfactory outcome using a sepia green color in the framework, giving a dark and scary atmosphere to the picture, the leading role played by Vincent Perez is a low pattern as your forerunner, the remaining cast is quite acceptable, barring Iggy Pop in another outstanding and usually performance, anyway unless otherwise agreed is my final opinion!!!

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First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7