Il corvo 3 - Salvation

"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 ****

I admit, the first time I saw this movie I fell head over heels for it. I still love it, but it's direction was not as good as it could have been. Bharat Nalluri could have easily raised the budget a little bit and the film would have a) gained more publicity and b)obtained a higher rank in quality. Except for Eric Mabius and Kristen Dunst, everyone acting in the movie was horrible! All the cops to name a few. The girl in the car and her friend seemed as if they had been pulled out of school and asked to act right on the street. Kristen Dunst and Eric Mabius however, were excellent. Though Kristen can't cry she can still seem really upset. Mabius could have not accentuated the case number with his facial expressions so much but the movie as a whole, 7 outta 10.

I found The Crow: Salvation to be a pretty good movie. Not as a good as the original, better than the second one (even though I did like the second one unlike most horror fans).

Did anyone notice that the three Crow movies all follow the same formats. Guy dies wrongfully. Comes back to avenge a group of people (the first one I forget who it was, the second it was drug dealers, and this one it's dirty cops). There's is the sad female character (Lucy from Seventh Heaven in the first one, the one girl in the second, and Kirsten Dunst in Salvation). And then there's the tough female evil character (Japanese woman in the second one, the one blond woman in this one).

Regardless of this, I found The Crow: Salvation very enjoyable. I brought it over to a party tonight and myself and a group of friends watched it together. The scenes of violence were exceptionally well done, especially for a direct-to-video shot.

Crow: Salvation comes out Tuesday, I really reconmend you rent it.

Erin (Kirsten Dunst) and her father Nathan Randall (William Atherton) attend the execution of Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) for the murder of her sister Lauren (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Alex maintains his innocence to the end. After the execution, he is resurrected by a crow into The Crow. He uncovers that Lauren was killed by a group of corrupt cops and he seeks revenge.

This is an inferior sequel of the cult classic. There are a few solid actors. The story is simple revenge as the Crow franchise tends to be. The effects and action are limited B-movie fare. There are explosions and car crashes but nothing special or filmed that well. Eric Mabius' strawberry blonde hair doesn't really fit my vision of the Crow and he doesn't have the threatening intensity. He doesn't have the darkness to be The Crow. The most annoying part is Kirsten Dunst's over-acting in big emotional moments. She has fair acting chops even in her younger days but her cry-acting really annoyed me. The blubbering diffuses all the tension. It makes this B-movie even campier.

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.